Cairo: Egypt’s official and private TV stations are featuring countdown clocks for the inauguration of a new waterway built alongside the historic Suez Canal, with the comment: “Egypt’s gift to the world”.
Posters of Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi and the national flags festoon the main streets of the nation ushering in the official inauguration of the new shipping route slated for Thursday.
Patriotic songs are played on local radio and TV stations in the run-up to the occasion for which nationwide celebrations are planned.
“Undoubtedly, completing this project in one year is a great achievement,” said Ebrahim Mansour, executive editor of the privately owned newspaper Al Tahrir.
“It is an achievement for Al Sissi, who insisted the digging be finished in one year. However, the people are the main inspiration for this project, because they invested 64 billion [Egyptian] pounds [Dh30 billion] in just a few days in response to a call from Al Sissi to finance the project.”
Building the new stretch, designed to allow two-lane traffic on the 146-year-old Suez Canal, was wholly funded by the public Egyptians through bank investment certificates offering an annual 12 interest rate.
‘Dream come true’
To many Egyptians, this is a particular reason for feeling proud.
“This is a dream come true,” said Hassan Haroun, a 65-year-old pensioner, who invested in the project.
“Digging the new Suez Canal in one year shows that Egyptians can do miracles if they want. What they really need is a leader like Al Sissi, who can motivate the people and state institutions to work hard.”
Haroun denies that the high interest rate offered for investment in the new waterway was the reason for him to buy what is locally known as the Suez Canal certificates.
“I belong to a generation of Egyptians, who lived during the time of Nasser and therefore realise what patriotism means,” he said, referring to late Egyptian president Jamal Abdul Nasser, who ruled Egypt for 16 years until 1970.
In 1956, Nasser nationalised the original Suez Canal to use its revenues in funding the construction of a huge dam in Aswan in Upper Egypt.
His move triggered the so-called Suez Canal crisis, which culminated in attacks by Britain, France and Israel on Egypt.
“Nasser knew well the value of Egypt and the Egyptians. And that what President Al Sissi also realises,” said Haroun.
Like Nasser, Al Sissi is an ex-army officer.
In 2013, Al Sissi, a defence minister at the time, led the army’s overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi following massive street protests against his rule. Egypt has since seen a spate of deadly attacks blamed on pro-Mursi insurgents.
Even though, Al Sissi has been riding a wave of popularity unprecedented since the Nasser era.
Megaproject
The 72-kilometre-long new lane is the first mega-project completed under Al Sissi, who took presidential office in June last year.
He announced the start of building the route, dubbed in the local media as the new Suez Canal, on August 5 last year.
The lane is part of a multi-billion-dollar project aimed at making Egypt a global trade and logistics hub.
The government hopes that the project will boost Egypt’s flagging economy and create around 1 million jobs to ease unemployment officially estimated at 13 per cent of the country’s workforce.
“The Suez Canal with its new expansion and the expected increase in revenues raises hope for achieving more progress and raising the living standards in the country,” Huda Abdul Nasser, the daughter of late Nasser, wrote in an article in Egypt’s semi-official newspaper Al Ahram this week.
“Egypt is enjoying a favourable factor as it is being led by a patriotic, sincere man, working for all Egyptians,” she added.
The new lane is aimed at cutting the waiting time for vessels passing through the Suez Canal, one of Egypt’s key foreign currency earners.
Authorities have said that with the new stretch in operation, the Suez Canal receipts will increase from the current $5.3 billion (Dh19.4 billion) to $13 billion by 2023.
This is particularly important as tourism, which used to earn Egypt about $12 billion annually, has been hard hit by the unrest that followed the 2011 uprising.
