Egypt

While many countries with desert climates struggle to establish strong agriculture sectors, it is a critical and successful pillar of Egypt’s economy. The fertile Nile Delta is responsible for the country’s rich natural conditions, and enables it to grow a wide variety of crops, including cereals, cotton, sugar, fruits and vegetables. The sector is further supported by a well-...

Egypt was one of the few economies to witness positive GDP growth in the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, fuelled in part by strong consumer spending. According to a November 2021 report from Fitch Solutions, real household spending expanded by around 7% in both 2020 and 2021 – despite the widespread impact of the pandemic, which hit key sectors such as tourism...

Egypt’s economy proved resilient during the Covid-19 pandemic, supported by structural changes associated with an ambitious economic reform programme in the years leading up to the crisis. The country was the only one in the MENA region to record positive GDP growth in 2020, reflective of the government’s emphasis on facilitating business continuity and targeting social...

Despite a successful economic reform programme implemented in 2016, Egypt continues to grapple with a fiscal deficit. In FY 2019/20 Egypt recorded a deficit of LE462.8bn ($29.4bn), the highest since the start of the 2016 reform initiatives. While this figure contracted to LE432.1bn ($27.5bn) in FY 2020/21, it is forecast to expand to LE475.5bn ($30.2bn) in FY 2021/22,...

Egypt is at the geographic centre of the MENA region, with a well-documented history that has seen it accumulate knowledge and wealth over millennia. It has leveraged the fertile soils of the Nile Delta and its location along global trade routes through the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, as well as the strategically important Suez Canal, completed in the mid-19th century. This...

While the current constitution dates from 2014, Egypt became a presidential republic in 1952. Under a presidential republic, the president – who serves as the head of state – selects the Cabinet and the prime minister; Mostafa Madbouly has occupied the role of the latter since 2018. The president is elected by an absolute majority of voters and initially serves a four-year...