1 problem is overpopulation. The 2006 population growth rate was 1.75%, not as much as Yemen or Pakistan or other countries but when applied to 83 million people it means 1.5 million newborns each year. Egypt can't possibly tend to so much growth.
2 problem is overcrowding. More than 90% of the population lives on less than 10% of the land, i.e. the Nile River Valley and Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts. Living conditions are becoming difficult. Desert reclamation is not happening quickly enough and the new settlements (e.g. مدينتي) are quite expensive and feasible only to the wealthy.
3 problem is the most complicated, alleviating poverty. Poverty is a very real problem in Egypt. 40.5% of the population spends less than 1,853 Egyptian pounds ($327) a year. Egypt has good economic growth at 5% or more a year, but it seems to benefit the wealthy more than the poor and, so, also given problem #1, it doesn't really administer much relief.
4 problem is the state welfare system, which is fraught with waste, corruption and inefficiency. Millions of people depend on this system for necessities like bread and gas. The system needs an overhaul.
5 problem is bureaucracy, which makes it difficult to get things done in Egypt. Less red tape, more transparency are needed.
6 problem is the most serious, popular discontent. Egyptian people are angry with the government, which is easy to blame because it's autocratic and does most things by itself. Popular discontent is also a driver of radicalism. Egyptians need real improvement in the economic quality of their lives, or they will push for an Islamic theocratic government thinking it will make things all right. The people of Gaza, Iran, Pakistan, etc had the same idea. Those "الاسلام هو الحل" activists will only end up making things worse.
7 is the recent Nile crisis, which might cost Egypt 80% of its water supply in future decades. I think Egypt needs to build a huge desalination plant like Israel recently did, but Egypt has many times Israel's population and water needs and only a fraction of the available funds.
8 is the state of public schools, which are understaffed and underfunded with unsophisticated curricula. Almost all Egyptian parents try to put their children in private or international schools if they can. Also the national Egyptian universities, which are not well-integrated with Western ones and achieve very poor global rankings. This ends up hurting the prospects of most Egyptian graduates, but a minor problem compared with the rest.
I'll add food production, although many Egyptians are agriculturalists Egypt can no longer harvest enough to feed its own population and, like Nono said, must import. In ancient times Egyptian grain fed the whole Roman Empire, now we have to buy a lot from countries like Ukraine. With the willingness to invest money in modern agrarian techniques and technology we can use less land and fewer farmers to produce enough food for domestic consumption and even have surpluses for export. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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