Egypt’s June 30 revolution, the African dream

Tomorrow, Egyptians and Africans celebrate together the third anniversary of the June 30 Revolution which marks another step in Egypt’s long history as the cradle of civilisation.

In the past three years, Egypt has successfully completed a democratic political road map, adopting a new progressive Constitution through a national referendum and democratically electing both a new President with an unprecedented 24 million votes and a new Parliament.

For the past two years, the priority of the newly elected leadership was to improve the quality of life of Egyptian citizens by addressing all their concerns. But, the main focus of President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi has been to address the structural economic problems to reengineer Egypt’s entire economic apparatus.

Egypt managed in the past two years to contain acute economic crisis and boost economic growth to around four percent by restoring confidence in the investment climate.

In 2015, Egypt’s foreign investments increased by 56 percent to $6.4 billion after several successful reform initiatives. Today, the prospects for greater growth and more investments in the Egyptian economy are even higher due to hundreds of mega projects across the country.

For example, projects such as the Suez Canal expansion aim to establish a global industrial corridor of around 76 000 square kilometres with new world-class facilities.

To absorb these significant growth plans and turn the Egyptian dream into reality, the President has also undertaken major steps in infrastructure and energy.

In the past two years, around 6 000 kilometres of new roads, several new airports, ports and underground tunnels were built to enhance the transportation of goods.

Egypt is also undergoing an energy revolution, adding around 10 000 megawatts (MW) to its electricity grid with another 10 000MW planned in the upcoming period. Also, the massive natural gas field discoveries on the Mediterranean shore by Italian and British companies will help make Egypt an energy powerhouse and further boost its economic growth.

Major fiscal reforms are being undertaken to broaden the tax base, reduce subsidies and government spending and encourage a dynamic and competitive environment that facilitates private sector growth.

In the past two years, Egypt has succeeded to stabilising the country and is part of the global effort to confront the unprecedented rise of transnational terrorism. The Egyptian military, as the main guarantor of Egyptian national security, has undergone significant transformation in its capabilities and combat readiness.

For the first time, the Egyptian Armed Forces has been globally ranked in the top 10 most powerful militaries and as the strongest military in the Mena region. Yet, with the tremendous power and influence comes responsibility, and the Egyptian State will always direct its capabilities towards efforts that safeguard stability in the Mena region.

The overwhelming support for the election of Egypt as a non-permanent member of the United Nations (UN) Security Council as well as a member of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council demonstrate its key role as a partner for peace and prosperity on the African and international stage.

President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi has translated the June 30 Revolution into achieving the Egyptian dream and transforming the country towards the better and allow it to compete in the 21st century. But, one of the main goals of Egypt’s success is to help our brothers and sisters across the African continent reach their full potential. n