GUIDANCE

In Egypt, COVID-19 Aggravates a Weak Start to 2020

Apr 1, 2020 | 10:00 GMT

A man provides a pedestrian with hand sanitizer as protection against COVID-19 on the historic Al-Moez street in Cairo, Egypt, on March 23, 2020.

A man provides a pedestrian with hand sanitizer as protection against COVID-19 on the historic Al-Moez street in Cairo, Egypt, on March 23, 2020.

(Islam Safwat/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Highlights

  • Simmering anxiety among Egypt’s general population has belied Egypt's economic growth since the 2011 Arab Spring, endangering the country’s regional security and financial situation. 
  • If Egypt’s recently acquired macroeconomic stability continues to misalign with the economic uncertainty felt by its citizens, it will also become a political liability for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. 
  • The COVID-19 pandemic will only augment this vulnerability by slowing down Egypt’s recent industrial growth while likely also creating a serious near-term blow to the country’s critical tourism sector.

Neighboring countries have a stake in Egypt's economic and political stability to prevent the spillover of the country's fragile security climate. But coronavirus-induced economic pains now risk compounding Egypt's persistent underemployment and systemic poverty, which could over time threaten the relative strength of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government. ...

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