The January 25th Egyptian Revolution was an inspiring event for the entire world.
In Egypt, it was the force behind a long waited and much needed shake-up in Egypt’s political scene.
It was a beacon of light!
Unfortunately, 6 months later, the influential leaders are busy discussing artificial topics, such as behavior, appearance, and religious etiquette.
Moreover, no intellectuals or experts are talking about the specifics of how to move the country forward economically and socially. Furthermore, little attention is being paid to figuring out how to make Egypt become a productive member of the world community.
Instead of focusing on the countless challenges that Egypt faces, the current leadership still considers foreign aid to be the solution to Egypt’s troubles.
This thought process is problematic because it limits the type of aid given to dollars and cents. In the information age, aid can be a broader category that includes the examination of Egypt’s competitive advantages and the improvement of the Egyptian business processes.
The two areas that need immediate attention in Egypt are food and poverty!
Many observers predict a new revolution in Egypt -
“The Hungary revolution” - in the near future.
Previously, Egypt was spending $4 billion a year on bread subsidization to support feeding almost 40% of the population (nearly 34 million people). This was part of an unwritten agreement between the regime and the citizens – let us rule and we will subsidize most of your food. These subsidies were necessary because over the past 59 years there has been a significant decrease in arable land, which has rendered the agriculture system in Egypt inadequate to provide products for its people.
Even after the January 25th revolution, most of the emerging leaders have not offered fresh ideas on how to tackle the food challenges that face the country. Instead, they are still discussing the same old political issues. As a result, nothing has been done about the dramatic increase in the price of food, which has left food beyond the reach of many ordinary Egyptians.
The above video shows an Egyptian mother greeting her young son (approx. 10 years old) at the door. He just returned from his daily trip to the bakery to pick up the family bread. He starts his trip everyday at 6:00AM and comes back around 10:00AM and sometimes late in the afternoon, missing his chance to attend school.
In the video, the boy’s father confirms that this boy has no future. The father is partially correct; schooling is not part of the boy’s future any longer. The choice was made for him to spend hours every day at the bread line instead of going to school. Thus, his future is limited to either crime or membership in an extremist organization.
The video shows a young Egyptian girl working as a maid in order to support her family. This is someone who could be a science teacher, a judge, a doctor, but instead she has been forced to work, at such a young age, as a servant.
Her situation is not uncommon.
There are millions of children like the boy and the girl, who cannot afford to go to school because they need to work to support their families who live in poverty. Sadly, these children will pass the same deprivation on to their own children in the future.
Many of these children are the engine of Egypt’s underground economy, which is the largest employer in Egypt. According to the public figures, the private sector employs 6.8 million people, the public sector employed employs 5.6 million, and the underground sector employs over 9.6 million people.
No doubt, Egypt is facing an enormous food crisis in the very near future as a result of:
· Its rapid population growth - 2.8 births per woman – 2009.
· Its massive unemployment - 9.7% (2010 est.), which is a result of the detachment between the public education system and the market needs. That is, the education system is training people in positions that are not needed by the market.
· Widespread poverty – there are more than 17 million Egyptians who live on less than $1 a day (CIA world factbook, 2005 est.) and many more millions have absolutely nothing and live on charities.
· Very old and inefficient bureaucratic system – Mr. Hernando De Soto reported in WSJ recently that to open a bakery would take more than 500 days, to get a legal title to vacant a piece of land would take more than 10 years of dealing with red tape, and to create a business, an entrepreneur would have to deal with 56 different government agencies.
Since 1979, Egypt has been receiving billions in financial aid for peace and security from the US. $1.3 billion of this aid was for military assistance.
In the fiscal year 2011, US President Obama requested $1.5 billion as financial aid to Egypt. However, $1.3 billion of this aid is still going to the Egyptian military. As a result, the proportion of US aid going to help ordinary Egyptians, who are facing extreme poverty, has significantly decreased.
For years the Egyptian regimes prevented the Muslim Brotherhood members from participating in the political life in Egypt. However, they were allowed to build a well organized religious and charitable system. The Muslim Brotherhood attracts followers through a wide range of social programs that include education, health and job training, and recently the distribution of food, such as meat, at cheaper than government prices. Having a piece of meat is a dream for millions of poor Egyptians.
Undoubtedly, Egypt’s food crisis will have a negative domino effect on the entire region and beyond if this crisis is allowed to destabilize Egypt.
We need to consider that:
- Egypt is a religious, cultural, and intellectual center for the Islamic and the Arab word. Egypt is a connector between the Arab world, Asia, Europe, and Africa in trade, diplomacy and security.
- Egypt’s geographical location, the Suez Canal, is important to commercial and military routes. The Canal is vital for the transportation of oil and liquid natural gas as well as for carrying close to 8 percent of the world’s container traffic.
- It is the most populous country in the Arab world and it was the first to sign a peace treaty with Israel.
- Many of the fiber optic cables go near its coasts and through the Suez Canal, which connects Asia to Europe and beyond.
- Egypt is the home of many historical and religious sites and very precious antiquities.
Egypt was, and should remain, a partner of America. However, ensuring Egypt’s food security in the short and long term through financial assistance is not a solution. America must adopt a new strategy to improve the economic opportunities for all Egyptians.
Solutions:
- Supply chain - The integration of Egyptian industries and similar global industries to develop better relationships and transmit ideas across cultures.
- Legalize property ownership – over 90% of Egyptians hold their property without legal title, which could be over $400 billion worth of assets. Legalizing property ownership will open the door for Egypt to build wealth and enforce a legal code to protect property rights.
- Encourage vocational and technical schools vs. colleges and universities.
- Legal system – encourage an open and fair legal system that supports the international standards of human rights.
- Encourage the military to turn their ownership of many businesses over to the private sector. Paul Sullivan, a National Defense University professor, says that the military's business accounts for 10% to 15% of Egypt's $210 billion economy.
Even though, the financial aid to Egypt is a very small part of the United States’ budget, it still can be used differently to improve Egyptian lives and lift millions out of poverty and help them to become self-sufficient.
America and the youth of the revolution can work together to change the future of these nameless young children and millions like them by adopting the above solutions and can start to arrange the foundation for long-term economic growth.
