Urban & Economy

Cotton Specters| Agriculture and the making of Egyptian dependency

Integrating into global value chains extracted billions of labor-hours and cubic meters of water from Egypt, cementing a deep, historic pattern of structural unequal exchange.

Osama Diab_ 27-7-2026

Cotton Specters| Agriculture and the making of Egyptian dependency

Latest stories

The ‘new’ North Coast: Exclusion comes home to roost

Urban & Economy_

The Marassi uproar exposes a deeper shift. As Egypt courts foreign buyers, the North Coast is being redesigned to exclude Egyptians, rich and poor alike.

Amr Adly_ 5-8-2026

The ‘new’ North Coast: Exclusion comes home to roost

Explainer| How does the new ration system work?

Urban & Economy_

As Egypt restructures its food subsidy system, public backlash mounts over sudden exclusions, bread price hikes, and the erosion of cash support value by inflation.

Abdelmageed Mohamed_ 12-7-2026

Explainer| How does the new ration system work?

Gold in central bank vaults: A mask for crisis, not a lifeline

Urban & Economy_

45% of central banks expect higher gold reserves. Gold’s share has doubled since 2021, raising questions about the dollar’s long-term dominance.

Amr Adly_ 9-7-2026

Gold in central bank vaults: A mask for crisis, not a lifeline

The structural trap of credit-fueled consumption

Urban & Economy_

While installment apps artificially boost purchasing power, fueling retail demand in an import-dependent economy inevitably deepens Egypt’s chronic trade deficit.

Amr Adly_ 11-6-2026

The structural trap of credit-fueled consumption

War clouds Egypt’s interest-rate path

Urban & Economy_

Egypt’s central bank is expected to hold rates as war-driven price pressures complicate its easing plans and raise the risk of tighter policy later this year.

Hager Atteya_ 21-5-2026

War clouds Egypt’s interest-rate path

New oil and gas discoveries: more than hot air?

Urban & Economy_

Egypt keeps announcing new oil and gas finds, but most are too small to reverse falling output or curb costly energy imports.

Laila El-Abd_ 19-5-2026

New oil and gas discoveries: more than hot air?

TMG’s Spine and the concrete ambitions of Egypt’s biggest bank

Urban & Economy_

NBE’s stake in TMG’s The Spine project raises questions over banks’ growing appetite for luxury real estate and the risks of chasing high-end demand.

Hager Atteya_ 6-5-2026

TMG’s Spine and the concrete ambitions of Egypt’s biggest bank

Egypt's fuel subsidies: Priced for wishful thinking

Urban & Economy_

Cairo’s budget pegs oil at $75 despite $119 spot prices. Slashed subsidies and fiscal targets signal imminent fuel price hikes as Egypt moves to meet IMF energy commitments.

Sarah Abdelmofeed_ 30-4-2026

Egypt's fuel subsidies: Priced for wishful thinking

Fertilizers: An industry profiting under fire

Urban & Economy_

While energy prices soar, Egypt’s fertilizer giants are turning wartime disruption into record profits, leaving farmers and citizens to bear the brunt of rising food inflation.

Hager Atteya_ 22-4-2026

Fertilizers: An industry profiting under fire

Explainer| How Egypt avoided a dollar crisis during the Iran conflict

Urban & Economy_

Despite an estimated $8 billion in hot money outflows, exchange rate flexibility and robust dollar reserves shielded the Egyptian economy from another liquidity collapse like 2022.

Mohamed Gad_ 16-4-2026

Explainer| How Egypt avoided a dollar crisis during the Iran conflict

Trump burns Gulf capital, not just its oil

Urban & Economy_

As conflict disrupts energy exports, Gulf monarchies may be forced to liquidate Western assets to cover domestic shortfalls, in a self-inflicted wound to the US economy.

Amr Adly_ 15-4-2026

Trump burns Gulf capital, not just its oil

Egypt's emergency rations: Who is poor enough to count?

Urban & Economy_

In homes balanced on pensions, credit and charity, exclusion from a 400-pound grant reveals a deeper crisis of opacity and neglect.

Omneya Qalawoun_ 5-4-2026

Egypt's emergency rations: Who is poor enough to count?

Egypt’s debt trap tightens as war on Iran bites

Urban & Economy_

War-related shocks are exposing the fragility of Egypt’s recent economic gains, with rising import costs and weaker inflows reviving borrowing pressure.

Doaa Elsayed_ 24-3-2026

Egypt’s debt trap tightens as war on Iran bites

Explainer| Egypt enters the derivatives era, but what are they?

Urban & Economy_

Egypt’s exchange is set to launch derivatives in March, starting with EGX30 futures. Here’s how they work, who benefits, and why leverage can cut both ways.

Hager Atteya_ 1-3-2026

Explainer| Egypt enters the derivatives era, but what are they?

What stalled Egypt's monorail, and who pays?

Urban & Economy_

Weeks after its expected launch, the New Capital monorail remains idle. Internal sources reveal that accumulated delays have cost the state at least 45 billion Egyptian pounds.

Mohamed Ismail_ 24-2-2026

What stalled Egypt's monorail, and who pays?

“Egypt’s Future” on the backs of peasants

Urban & Economy_

Transformations routinely presented as hallmarks of modernization and efficiency amount to a slow dismantling of the countryside’s capacity to reproduce its own life in practice.

Saker El Nour_ 5-2-2026

“Egypt’s Future” on the backs of peasants