Le Monde: The Egyptian army has disrupted the balance of the economy

The French military has ruled many economic sectors since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power, disrupting the entire economy and pushing businessmen out of their silence, the French daily Le Monde said.

Al-Sisi and the army did not tolerate any criticism of the fact that they exercised power without sharing it.However, allegations are spreading within Egyptian and foreign business circles against the military, as an actor that imposes unfair competition and tolerates the dangers it faces. Some projects.

Many sectors remain under the army's growing control, including mineral water, household appliances, gas stations, billboards, cement factories, pharmaceuticals, resorts and international schools.

The writer pointed out that despite the intervention of the military establishment in the economy, is not a recent, but Sisi continues to rush and move forward on this issue, where the army has gained more weight in the era of former President Hosni Mubarak, where Sisi was keen to present the army as the most appropriate institution Trustworthy; since they are the most effective, least expensive and corrupt.

The Egyptian president gave his confidence to the military establishment, and entrusted it with the huge projects he launched in order to stabilize Egypt and establish its legitimacy, such as renovating roads, doubling the profits of the Suez Canal, establishing a new administrative capital and new cities, among others.

Dying project
On September 5, 2018, Egyptian readers were surprised by the attack by the Egyptian newspaper Al-Wafd against the army, when Egyptian businessman Mohamed Ali Sarhan directed Sisi to say "the project of Egypt's future is dying", calling on him to find a solution to the setbacks. Forty investors who took part in this project, knowing that it is supported by the President himself and is under the supervision of the Egyptian Air Force.

According to an agreement signed in early 2018, 100,000 hectares of desert north of Cairo were turned into agricultural land in just six months, and Sisi made a promise to provide investors with last-minute contracts, during the inauguration ceremony he was personally supervising. To be organized in late June 2018.

The writer added that this decision did not concern investors as this practice was common in the country, and the Air Force has pledged that these lands will be at the disposal of investors for 49 years renewable, and accordingly they did not hesitate to pay large amounts of money about 150 million pounds Egyptian (equivalent to 8.3 million euros), allocated to the electricity grid, and the amount of nine million pounds per thousand acres.

Initially, cooperation between investors and the Air Force Control Committee went well. A few weeks before the opening, the team disappeared and investors later discovered that Air Force Commander Younis al-Masri had been demoted to the Minister of Civil Aviation, and that other members of the committee had been arrested. .

"The officers of the new team reported that their ancestors were corrupt and blamed investors for starting a project of this size without signing a contract," the source quoted a source familiar with the case as saying.

"We were shocked to learn that our contracts would enable us to facilitate for five years only, we need at least 15 years," said Mohamed Ali Sarhan, although a consensus solution could not be reached a year later.

Total control
The writer said that on the other hand, the army benefits from the profits derived from the presence of retired officers at the head of public companies, and control of public land, which accounts for 94% of the country.

In addition, the Ministry of Defense has the right to control the allocation of these lands for civilian use, and controls the largest strategic areas, including the border areas, the coast, Sinai and the Suez Canal, where most of the investments are concentrated.

Private giants complain of being a victim of President El Sisi by squandering huge sums of money in failed investments, and small and medium-sized enterprises and informal sector institutions are the most vulnerable, she said, pointing out that these companies protest against having to cut profit margins in order to Launch low-cost projects.

"The army wants to maintain profit margins, it can force companies to accept losses, and if they refuse, they realize they won't get contracts anymore," said Yazid Sayegh, senior researcher at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut.

Monopolies
The writer noted that the military entered new sectors following the deficit related to the dollar crisis and the devaluation of the Egyptian pound in November 2016, and by referring to the urgent situation and the risk of social unrest, the army intervened to import essential low-cost products.

The military moved from import to production in a variety of sectors, and an importer (who declined to be named) stated that "the army is doing all activities from farms to fish, fruits, vegetables, meat, agriculture and even printing. We may have to ask the army what it has not done yet so that we can Who are we doing? "

According to research conducted by Reuters in May 2018, the revenues of about twenty companies - headed by the Ministry of Military Production, one of the three institutions that oversee military companies with the Ministry of Defense and the Arab Organization for Industrialization - are expected to reach 15 billion Egyptian pounds in 2018. 2019, triple the 2013-2014.

Egyptian and foreign businessmen deplore the unfair competition caused by the army's enormous advantages.It does not pay taxes on income, sales and imports of raw materials, products, equipment and services, and the military continues to benefit from energy subsidies despite its phase-out since 2016.

A presidential decree dating back to 2015 exempted nearly 600 army property from property taxes, and according to international NGOs, recruits are sometimes used as a low-skilled labor in "hard labor."