Power cuts in Egypt are the focus of national conversation as the country braces for a summer of potentially record heat, with temperatures already above 40 degrees in May.
Egypt's government brought back mandatory daily power cuts last year amid the country's economic woes.
The government says it does not have the funds to buy enough diesel or natural gas to make full use of its new power stations to keep electricity running throughout the day, affecting, lighting power fans and air-conditioners when demand soars in the summer.
Egypt, the most populous Arab nation with 106 million people, has experienced power cuts for decades.
Since 2018, however, Egyptians have had largely uninterrupted electricity due to the purchase of billions of dollars worth of power stations and the overhauling of the national grid.
Under President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, who came to power in 2014, authorities have aimed to transform a power-starved country into one of self-sufficiency. The government had previously said it would export Egypt's surplus electricity to neighbouring nations and talked of linking its grid to European nations.
Many praised Egypt's transformation in the energy field while officials responded to issues in neighbouring countries by saying they were ready to share their expertise.
This changed when the country plunged into an economic crisis after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with a crippling dollar shortage, a declining local currency and the collapse of the nation’s lucrative debt market.
Since then, the rolling power cuts have not only returned but are also longer and less predictable than before. Egyptians have complained that many last longer than the two-hour limit set publicly by the government, have not occurred within the declared schedule and, in some cases, have happened more than once a day.
Government spokesman Mohamed El Homsany has said the daily power cuts will last for two hours but will occur between the hours of 3pm and 7pm, instead of the previous time of 11am to 5pm. The shift, which will remain in force until July, is to accommodate school pupils sitting their final exams in the morning.
Like everyone else in the government, Mr Al Homsany avoided using the term “power cuts” and instead used the term “reducing the burden”.
He has repeatedly said the power cuts would stop in the “nearest time possible” but has refused to be drawn into declaring a specific date or timetable.
“I have lowered my expectations and ambitions,” said Amr Adeeb, a television celebrity whose night-time talk show on the Saudi-owned MBC Egypt is possibly the Arab world’s most popular.
“I have called on the government to stop the power cuts during this very hot week. Now I am pleading with the government not to cut electricity for more than two hours. The power cuts now last more than two hours and are messing up home appliances,” he said on Monday.
“There is no longer a timetable. The power goes out any time of day and for whatever length of time. It’s become absurd. If you are insisting on cutting electricity, then you’d better do it right.”
To many Egyptians, it is disheartening to have power cuts in a country that has received a multi-sourced bail out of about $50 billion this year. Many have already suffered from the rising cost of living and new taxes in the last decade.
Finance Minister Mohamed Maait indirectly touched on the issue this week when he said state subsidies on fuel amounted to 220 billion Egyptian pounds (about $4.5 billion) in the current fiscal year.
“It’s a crime,” he told a conference in Cairo.
Government officials have complained that local power stations buy natural gas from the government at a price significantly lower than what is charged on world markets. However, there is no precise figure on how much money the government saves by cutting off power.
Estimates range from $35 million a month to $1 billion a year.
Economists, however, have argued that the money saved by buying less fuel for power stations is minimal compared to the losses incurred by small and medium-sized businesses due to power cuts. Many complain that millions of dollars are lost by households through ruined produce or when electrical appliances stop working due to repeated power disruptions.
“The power cut in my district lasts between 3 and 5pm,” said Hanaa Youssef, a 70-year-old retired government employee from central Cairo.
“Yesterday, I just went out on my balcony and lay on the floor to cool off. What else can you do in this weather.”
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
Cricket World Cup League Two
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Fixtures
Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
Company%20profile
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Fast%20X
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The%20specs
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TWISTERS
Director: Lee Isaac Chung
Starring: Glen Powell, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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SPECS
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 80-100
Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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