Developing Egypt

Author: Zaina Shalaby

According to a report submitted by Global Growth Projections (n.d.), which was reported by Harvard University, Egypt is ranked just after Uganda as the fastest growing economy in Africa. However, Egypt still has a long way to go. Egypt is currently a Stage 2 developing country, and it’s overall development is not very high. Despite this, efforts are being made to develop Egypt into a Stage 3 country. Egypt’s current population is close to 100 million, with a 2% population growth rate (BTI Egypt Country Report, 2016). Development is very important in order for a country to thrive and be able to support its population, especially with such a large population like Egypt’s. Development happens in different ways. There is economic development, industrial development, health development, and more. 

There are several benefits to economic development, which are also reasons Egypt needs this development. Economic growth is the best way to promote development in a country. A major benefit of economic development is that due to the expansion of companies and rise in demand, companies end up employing more people so that they can keep up with the economy. This results in a reduced unemployment rate, which is extremely important in a country like Egypt, where unemployment rates are around twelve percent (BTI Egypt Country Report, 2016). Twelve percent may not seem high, but it is. With the growing population in Egypt, that translates into a very large number of people that are unemployed. This alone is enough reason for Egypt to push for development. Not only are unemployment rates high, but the number of children and adolescents that do not receive proper education is high as well. As of 2018, 77,552 children were out of school and 221,475 adolescents were out of school (Egypt, 2017). Economic development will drastically improve these numbers, because when the economy improves, public services such as education and healthcare improve as well. Education is essential for the future of a country. If the younger generations in a country aren’t properly educated, then the country will inevitably have a worse economy due to the fact that no one will be able to find good jobs.

Countries need to develop not just economically, but industrially. Industrialization pushes countries forward and improving the economy. Industrialization can have a huge effect on a country’s overall development due to the fact that it does so many different things at once. Industrialization means more factories and better quality machines, which means more goods. These goods become more common and more affordable due to the rate at which they are made, creating an overall better quality of life for people. Furthermore, industrialization means better medical technology such as labs that can be used for curing diseases. This, ultimately, can increase the life expectancy in a country and reduce the mortality rate. Currently, Egypt struggles with cleanliness and obtaining medicines in hospitals. Industrialization would ensure that hospitals all around Egypt had higher quality labs, medicines, and protocols. Above all, however, industrialization provides job opportunities for those who are not fortunate enough to receive an education. These workers migrate from rural areas in search of jobs, and the increase in factories opens up new opportunities for them.

As discussed earlier, economic growth is the best way to ensure development. There are several ways to achieve economic growth. First and foremost, improving the infrastructure in a country is essential. Egypt’s infrastructure is very poor, with roads that are even dangerous at times. According to the World Health Organization (2012), Egypt loses around 12,000 lives to road accidents annually, which is around 42 deaths per every 100,000 people. Infrastructure is one of the first things that has to be fixed in Egypt, meaning the government should allocate money and resources to fixing the infrastructure in Egypt. Not only will this connect rural areas with the larger cities, but it will provide more opportunities for investments such as retail shops and gas stations along the sides of these new roads. Furthermore, fixing the infrastructure in Egypt will provide jobs, even if they are temporary, to uneducated people, which is always helpful. 

Although economic development and industrialization are ideal for a country, they do have environmental impacts. First and foremost, industrialization is the root cause of air pollution. As more factories pop up and more fossil fuels are burned, pollution levels increase, causing the air quality to drastically worsen due to the toxins in fossil fuel emissions. Industrialization also causes water pollution due to factories being near rivers, in Egypt’s case, the Nile River. These factories contaminate the water supply, making it undrinkable. Furthermore, building infrastructure can have a damaging effect on the ecosystems because they will be destroyed during construction. This is detrimental to the environment. 

Throughout researching on this topic, I realized that Egypt has a long way to go before becoming a Stage 3 country. However, researching a lot showed me that Egypt is putting in effort to become better. I had thought that the government did not care about developing both economically and environmentally, but I now realize that it does. Learning about the measures the government has taken to improve Egypt has given me hope that in the near future, Egypt will become a Stage 3 country.

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