After 40 years of delayed action on the various aspects of social and economic issues; ranging from bureaucracy and corruption to roads and slum areas major problems , finally, Egypt is pushing fast forward.
Egypt over the past four years has been witnessing 11,000 national projects being implemented all over the country. This means an average of three projects a day, worth EGP 2 trillion.
Fighting to combat slum proliferation, constructing 25,000 housing units to provide safe housing in place of slums with a plan to conclude this phase by 2018-2019 is a major investment in the future. The same could be said about the new cities, roads and bridges network that can under no circumstances be overlooked if we are to assess the country’s major achievements over the past few years.
The energy hub currently under construction with prospects of Gas self sufficiency by end of 2018 is also worth mentioning and calls for optimism.
Egypt has often been accused of ignoring needs of the lower socioeconomic groups, but the past four years took the opposite approach, as aid to Such a segment of the Egyptian society is on the rise , and allocations to the Takaful and Karama social solidarity programme increased by 30 percent and pensions by 15 percent.
Egypt’s hepatitis C treatment protocol scored a success rate of 97 percent and managed to provide treatment to millions of Egyptians who were plagued with hepatitis C. The medical arena also welcomed inauguration of a number of major hospitals.
All the above proceeded parallel to an economic reform programme, one that has been successful in improving all economic indicators, including a substantial drop in inflation rates and unemployment towards the end of 2017.
“Egypt is definitely going in the right direction and its recovery is noticeable”, said Christian Richter, a contributor to Euromoney’s risk survey and professor of economics at the German University in Cairo. Christian proceeded to point out that “There is still work to be done, but under president Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the political and economic situation has improved massively”, Richter added in a report titled “Why Egypt offers an alternative to Morocco and Tunisia”, published on Euromoney official site.
2017 was a turning point towards the right path, one that promises a better future, yet a lot of hard work remains to be done, and as Egyptians we need to ask the question : what can we do to deliver a better future for our children and future generations.
In my own opinion we do need first of all to support our country by abiding to the set of laws that are in operation, second and most importantly we badly need to deliver quality working hours in public and private sectors and to denounce dependency on the state. Abiding to law means that the informal sector needs to integrate within the economy to develop transparently and grow within the borders of a formal economy. The new laws, specially bankruptcy law does insure a proper means by which an entrepreneur can operate a business professionally. Abiding to all forms of laws grants the citizen the ability to allow the rule of law to develop and thrive.
On the other hand, delivering quality working hours in public and private sector will upgrade the whole economy, especially when it comes to production. There is no need to clarify that investing time and effort in delivering quality “ work” upon servicing a client, or working on a machine in a factory, or in delivering lectures in schools, and universities or in handling a patient in a medical facility, or in any aspect of a trade, such an attitude if undertaken by citizens will immediately impact the quality of our services and products.
Finally, I wish to add that we need to be positive , relinquish negativity, and trust that future development is possible.
MSMEs funds available for youth are a call for optimism , it is an opportunity for youth to achieve their dream projects, and there is quite a pool of industrialists who are willing to capitalise on the fruits of the pound’s floatation for exports.
Mangers, directors, and entrepreneurs need to develop a healthy bonus system to achieve growth. The labor market needs to be more responsive to the job market in order to manage catering its needs.
Our spirit as Egyptians tend to be ironic towards the various aspects in life, yet we need to maintain a coordinated professional attitude, as irony sometimes surpasses the traditional norms of business. It also often leads to a fragile presence in a market that has no room for amateurs. Yet, remains a strong asset that drives our potential and moods, we need to redirect this power towards achievements and success.
Let us trust in our potential and ability to prevail, let us trust in God’s will that Egypt is a safe haven, and work hard; as this is the only route to development and there are no shortcuts.
