American Thinker hails Sisi’s economic reforms

CAIRO – 9 April 2018: The online magazine American Thinker hailed President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi on Monday for the economic reforms he has carried out during his first term as president.

In an article titled “How did President el-Sisi lift the economy of Egypt,” written by Firas Samuri, President Sisi was praised for establishing development projects that aim at improving the Egyptian economy.

The article noted the new Suez Canal that was opened in August 2015. In August 2014, President Sisi announced an $8.2-billion project to dig a new extension to the Suez Canal in order to expand its capacity to 97 ships per day.


A cargo ship is seen crossing through the New Suez Canal, Ismailia, Egypt, July 25, 2015 (Source: Reuters)

The project suggested digging a new canal with a total length of 72 kilometers parallel to the older Suez Canal, to decrease waiting time for ships passing the canal and facilitate traffic in both directions.

Suez Canal Authority Chairman Mohab Mamish said in March that the Suez Canal’s revenues amounted to $4.3 billion last year.



The article also highlighted the $45-billion New Administrative Capital that has been constructed east of Cairo.

With an area of 170,000 feddans (176,460 acres), the new capital will include 20 residential areas expected to accommodate 6.5 million people and a road network 650 km in length. The capital will include an international airport and an electric train to link it with the 10th of Ramadan and El-Salam cities.

It will feature 1,250 mosques and churches, a 5,000-seat conference center, nearly 2,000 schools and colleges, over 600 medical facilities, and a park that is projected to be the world’s largest.

It has been confirmed that the New Administrative Capital will include six international universities from the United States, Britain, Hungary, Canada, Sweden and France, said Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdul Ghaffar in early November 2017.


FILE: a scale model of a planned new Administrative Capital

The article also mentioned other development projects, including national projects for the development of roads and slums.

Some 3,195 national projects have been executed in the last four years, costing LE 667 billion ($37.7 billion), Ibrahim Mahlab, presidential aide for national and strategic projects, said in March.

He added that works are currently underway to finish 1,229 projects, at a cost of LE 1.5 trillion, bringing the total national projects to 4,424 projects.

Other remarkable projects include the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the 1.5-million-feddan reclamation project and the Ghalioun fish farm project.

In November, President Sisi inaugurated the largest fish farm in the Middle East, located in Berket Ghalioun, Kafr el-Sheikh.

The fish farm megaproject consists of two phases; the first phase was carried out on an area of 4,000 acres and will expectedly cover up to 70 percent of Egypt’s domestic need of fish.


the first phase was carried out on an area of 4,000 acres and will expectedly cover up to 70 percent of Egypt’s domestic need of fish – Press photo

The project consists of a hatchery for fish and shrimp on an area of 17 feddans with a capacity of 20 million fish and 2 billion shrimp. The project also includes 1,359 aquariums.

It is planned within the project’s framework that an ice factory will be built on an area of 450 square meters, with a production capacity of 40 tons of crushed ice each day and 20 tons of ice blocks for freezing fish and shrimp. Furthermore, a foam factory will be constructed on an area of 1,200 square meters to produce fish and shrimp containers.

The project's productivity contributes to the reduction of fish imports by about 27 percent. It also provides at least 5,000 job opportunities for residents of Kafr el-Sheikh and the surrounding governorates.

The article also praised Sisi’s efforts to decrease the unemployment rate. According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), the unemployment rate in Egypt slipped to 11.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to 12.4 percent in the same quarter of 2016.

“Today, Egypt and its economy show signs of recovery, which makes one believe that the country is moving in the right direction,” the article read.

Additional reporting by Lolwa Reda, Rana Mohamed