Urban & Economy

Latest stories

Fare hikes without brakes: Runaway debt derails Egypt’s railway reform

Urban & Economy_

Mounting debt service and rising fuel costs have pushed Egyptian National Railways back into the loss cycle, erasing a brief 2025 surplus and triggering fresh ticket price hikes.

Mohamed Ismail_

Fare hikes without brakes: Runaway debt derails Egypt’s railway reform

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_

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

Cotton Specters| Agriculture and the making of Egyptian dependency

Urban & Economy_

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_

Cotton Specters| Agriculture and the making of Egyptian dependency

Egypt’s war prep: The strait, the barrel, and the loaf of bread

Urban & Economy_

To survive the incoming shocks, Egypt must fundamentally restructure its crop patterns, enforce strict energy rationing, and abandon its reliance on energy-intensive exports.

Amr Adly_

Egypt’s war prep: The strait, the barrel, and the loaf of bread

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_

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_

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

Designed to exclude: The commodification of Egypt’s public space

Urban & Economy_

If an able bodied man struggles to walk, rest, or simply exist in the city; what chance do women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities have?

Mohamed Elsayed Eid_

Designed to exclude: The commodification of Egypt’s public space

Why did remittances from Egyptians abroad rise during the war?

Urban & Economy_

War fears, labor uncertainty and a weaker pound drove a surge in Egyptians' remittances, helping cushion the currency and bolster dollar inflows.

Hager Atteya_

Why did remittances from Egyptians abroad rise during the war?

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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_

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