Egypt will open an expansion to the Suez
Canal to great fanfare on Thursday, in the presence of the French
presidentFrançois Hollande.
The Suez Canal is the centrepiece of
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s plans to revitalise the country’s
economy after years of damaging political turmoil.
Hollande is being criticised at home for
his participation in the event,given the autocratic drive taken by the
militaryal-Sisi regime, butEgypt, as well as its backer Saudi Arabia,
are France’s biggest arms customers.
Some analysts and economists say, however, that the mega-project may fail to meet the great expectations.
The Suez extension was announced by Sisi a
year ago and billed as a major national accomplishment on a par with
President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s nationalisation of the Suez Canal in 1956
and the building of the Aswan Dam.
The 1869 inauguration of the canal linking
the Red Sea to the Mediterranean was hailed as a leap into the modern
age, and President Gamal Abdel-Nasser’s nationalization of the British
and French-run waterway in 1956 was seen as marking Egypt’s decisive
break with its colonial past. That sparked the second of four wars with
Israel, including a 1973 offensive launched across the canal that
Egyptians celebrate as their greatest military victory.
The government hopes for another historic
moment Thursday, when it unveils an $8.5 billion extension of the
waterway funded entirely by Egyptians, without foreign aid. The media
and government supporters across the board have breathlessly repeated
the same message — after four years of strife and the overthrow of two
presidents, Egypt is back.
The new extension involved digging and
dredging along 72 kilometers (45 miles) of the 193-kilometer canal,
making a parallel waterway at its middle that will facilitate two-way
traffic accommodating the world’s largest ships. With a depth of 24
meters, the canal now allows the simultaneous passage of ships with up
to 66 ft. draught.
Originally planned as a three-year
project, el-Sissi ordered the new segments to be finished in just one,
citing the pressing need for an economic boost. Work has been non-stop
ever since, and at one point 43 massive dredging machines were cranking
away.
The canal drew in in a record $5.3 billion
last year, a figure the government estimates it can raise to $13.2
billion by 2023 if it doubles the number of ships transiting daily to
97. Economists and shippers, however, say that’s overly optimistic.
The project’s success also depends on the
security situation. To the east of the canal, a long-running insurgency
in the Sinai Peninsula has intensified since the military overthrow of
Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. An Islamic State affiliate
has carried out several major attacks on Egyptian security forces,
killing scores of soldiers and policemen there. The Egyptian mainland
has also seen a series of attacks, including the bombing of the Italian
Consulate in Cairo last month, which was claimed by the IS group.
The government blames almost all the
attacks on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, which prevailed in a series of
elections held after the 2011 overthrow of longtime autocrat Hosni
Mubarak but is now branded a terrorist group. Morsi and other top
leaders have been jailed and sentenced to death, and a sweeping police
crackdown since his ouster has killed hundreds of Islamists and jailed
thousands.
Security has been stepped up along the
canal ahead of Thursday’s ceremony, which is expected to be attended by
el-Sissi and foreign dignitaries. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed
Samir said extra troops have been deployed to "deal with threats and
potential aggression.”
An Interior Ministry statement carried by
state news agency MENA said major steps were being taken to hinder the
"terrorist Brotherhood” and other "terrorist infiltration,” adding that
since July, security forces had launched an extensive crackdown in
cities along the canal, combing nearby farms and verifying the
identities of people in hotels and rental properties.
Video released by the military and
broadcast continually on state and private television shows masked
special forces patrolling the canal in boats, tanks and armored
personnel carriers, with U.S.-made Apache attack helicopters and F-16s
soaring overhead.
Some analysts say security remains a
concern for foreign investors, whose capital is needed for the next
stage of the project — the expansion of the canal zone to include a
logistics hub and manufacturing centers.
That second stage, which would generate
badly needed jobs for Egypt’s surging population, is still being
developed and would take years. El-Sissi’s office said the next step
would focus on the East Port Said area, the expansion of its harbor and
the development of an industrial zone that would cover 40 million square
meters (430 million square feet) and eventually generate some 400,000
jobs.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/egypt-unveils-suez-canal-extension-in-the-presence-of-francois-hollande/