The Many “Challenges and Opportunities” of Development in Sisi’s Egypt

Since coming to power in 2013, Sisi’s government has pursued a development agenda that has included an expansion of the Suez Canal, but the actual economic benefit from the project remains unclear.

by Gabriel Young

On February 22, an entourage of Egyptian government officials, local business elites, and global shipping technocrats gathered inside the JW Marriott Hotel in Cairo for the inaugural Suez Canal Global Conference. Through sleek brochures, PowerPoint presentations, and workshops, conference attendees repeatedly encountered the theme of “Challenges and Opportunities,” facing President Abdel Fatah Sisi’s ambitious expansion of the Suez Canal.

Completion of the “New Suez Canal” in August 2015 and the East Port Said Channel just last month has been central to Sisi’s program of economic development. Like many grand infrastructure projects that manifest state power, they have also been deployed as symbols of Egyptian stability and promise in a period of extended political turbulence and economic stagnation. “Challenges and opportunities,” then, appears to be an unwittingly apt theme both for the Suez Canal Global Conference, as well as Sisi’s development policies more broadly.