Egyptian expatriates are torn over participating in a campaign recently launched to send money to their country to help its ailing economy amid a currency crisis and rising inflation.
The “Be Positive” initiative launched by Egyptians living abroad asks fellow expatriates – estimated to number around 10 million – to send $200 each to support their country’s economy. Egypt is reeling under a cost-of-living crisis as the pound (EGP) plummets, having reached new lows of over 30 EGP to the dollar earlier this week.
In October last year, the Central Bank of Egypt implemented an exchange rate flexibility, allowing the pound’s value to be regulated by market forces in a bid to save an already worsening economy.
But the campaign has instead been met with pessimism by many, who say it will not make a difference with the current regime in Cairo and its policies.
Egyptians have sounded frustration over the huge spending on projects they believe will not generate revenue or contribute to helping the overwhelming majority of Egypt’s more than 100 million population, focusing their criticism at President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his government.
One-third of Egyptians are estimated to be under the poverty line.
These multi-billion-dollar projects include the New Administrative Capital, just east of Cairo, which now houses the country’s branches of government. Egypt has long sought to construct new cities to address its population crisis , particularly in in Greater Cairo, but critics argue these are unsustainable.
Egyptians have taken to social media to mock and speak out against the “Be Positive” campaign.
Television host and human rights activist Haytham Abo Khalil wrote on Twitter: “I’ll be the first one to donate. Come on Egyptian expats, everyone donate $200 so we can cover the cost of the new presidential airplane [called] ‘Queen of the Sky’,” in reference to the jumbo aircraft reportedly costing $500 million.
Shocked at Sisi’s priorities, one Twitter user wrote: “On 10 January 2023, the [Egyptian] Pound began to quickly decline, and the initiative to donate $200 to support the economy was announced. The same day, an urgent meeting was held between Sisi and the prime minister and instructions were given to complete the El Alamein amusement park!”
