In less than a month, the Egyptian regime has targeted, in an unprecedented way, businessmen who own major commercial entities, withheld their money and arrested some of them, and charged them with charges that political observers considered as part of what the regime used to accuse its opponents of.
The latest targeting operations were the arrest of Sayed Ragab Al-Sweerky, owner of the famous commercial complexes chain "Al-Tawhid and Al-Nour," and his detention for 15 days pending investigations with him on charges of "joining a terrorist group and financing its activities by millions of pounds." His children to travel.
Days preceded that, the Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to imprison Safwan Thabet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Juhayna, the largest producer of dairy and juices in Egypt, 15 days pending investigations, on the same accusation and withheld his money.
About a week before that, the committee's list of the latest "terrorist and terrorist groups' funds" included preventing businessman Mohamed Mansour Abdel-Rahman Abu Auf, and his brother Mustafa, from disposing of their money and property, and seizing their company, "My Way Egypt" for cosmetics. Beauty, one of the largest companies operating in the Egyptian market in this field.
This successive series of targeting businessmen and their major commercial entities has raised questions about its true goals and economic effects on the investment climate and local industry in Egypt, as well as its repercussions on a broad segment of the middle and poor who benefit from these affected entities.
Activists believed that what happened came in the context of the military’s endeavor to control major commercial activities in Egypt, and some of them linked Thabet’s arrest to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s meeting, on Tuesday, with the Prime Minister, the Ministers of Agriculture and Supply, and an army official to follow up “the national project to establish and develop dairy collection centers ".
obscurantism
The economic expert, Mustafa Abdel Salam, believes that there is a lack of clarity that may be intentional in concealing the real reasons behind the arrest and targeting of businessmen, and then this opens the way to different speculations, each of which has its logical arguments for its presentation.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, he listed a number of these possibilities, foremost of which is the attempt to pressure the targeted businessmen to donate for the benefit of the state, as well as the attempt to pressure them to sell their companies or the shares they own in it to some influential parties that ultimately belong to the military establishment.
Abd al-Salam also did not rule out that the motive behind what happened was the negative impact on the companies owned by the arrested businessmen, by making room for companies affiliated with sovereign bodies in the state, to control the areas of activity in which they were working.
The economist stressed that regardless of the possibility that stands behind the matter, what happened will necessarily negatively affect the investment climate, as it will affect the poor class for which the target entities provide goods at reasonable prices.
Mustafa Shaheen, an economist and professor of economics at the American Academy of Oakland, considered that what happened to businessmen was a process of "seizure by force" of funds without any right or a convincing basis for the state to justify the matter.
He added - in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net - that what the Egyptian regime did has other real and direct reasons other than what the authorities justified, all of which are due to the old and renewed desire of the army to fully control the economy and its resources in Egypt, regardless of the dangerous consequences for investment and the Egyptian citizen.
Mustafa Abdel Salam believes that there is a lack of clarity in hiding the true reasons behind the arrest and targeting of businessmen (Al-Jazeera)
Fear for power
Shaheen pointed out that the phase of privatization that Egypt has gone through has created a class of high-income earners that the military establishment has become convinced that it has ambitions for power, and therefore it aims to eliminate it completely.
He pointed out that this targeting, which may not stop at the last names, will have a very negative impact on the investment climate in the country, as it will necessarily increase fears of investment in Egypt, and may push many to save their money and change their investment market by exiting into other safer economic spaces. .
On the other hand, the economic expert, Abd al-Nabi Abdul-Muttalib, relates the assessment of the impact of what happened to the documents, evidence and evidence available to the authorities that accompanied the decisions of arresting businessmen.
He explained - in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net - that if there is confirmed evidence of irregularities in their business, this will have a positive impact, as it will appear as a strong message that the law applies to everyone and does not exclude anyone, even senior businessmen who may be thought by some people. They are not subject to the law because of their privileges and relationships.
Abdel-Muttalib pointed out that if there are no strong reasons for targeting businessmen, this will have a negative impact on the investment climate in Egypt (Al-Jazeera)
Confirmed clues
Abdul-Muttalib ruled out that what happened would come within the context of "blackmailing" the targeted businessmen, stressing the existence of accusations supported by documents and evidence, and perhaps investigations or reports submitted, indicating that it is difficult to arrest the aforementioned businessmen without an accusation based on evidence.
But at the same time he acknowledged that some of these accusations may be minor violations, but they remain charges punishable by law, pointing out that if the matter is limited to weak evidence and justifications, and there are no strong reasons, this will have a negative impact on the investment climate in the country.
The journalist specializing in economic affairs, Amr Khalifa, said that what happened to the aforementioned businessmen sends a message of concern to any foreign investor, and he will go beyond that to the local investor, who may think of pumping his investments outside the Egyptian market in order to distribute risks.
In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Khalifa pointed out that this policy followed by the regime in Egypt strengthens the direction of foreign investments in the country to the path of indirect investments represented in debt instruments that the Egyptian government offers in an expanded way, due to the high return on them at an unsettling risk, in exchange for what Other countries offer.
Khalifa did not rule out that the arrest of businessmen and the freezing of their money took place in the context of their extortion in light of the general policy of the regime, after the third of July 2013, which is based on seeking to obtain authorization and overt support from all classes of the Egyptian people.
And he warned that the negative effects would be multiplied if the state proceeded by eliminating the imposition of guardianship on these companies, which would greatly affect the future of those companies that affect the interests of broad groups of the Egyptian people.