Egypt has told all shops and restaurants nationwide to shut their doors by 10 pm, a measure officials link directly to rising electricity and oil-import costs fed by the Israel-Gaza war.
The decree, published in the official gazette on Monday, applies to cafes, supermarkets, department stores and street kiosks; it took effect immediately and is expected to last “until further notice,” according to the Supply Ministry.
Business owners in Cairo said the early shutdown will slash trading hours that normally stretch past midnight, spelling heavy losses for a service sector already hit by three years of inflation and currency weakness.
“There are 24-hour cafes that close at 4 or 5 am; those places will lose half their day,” said Samir Fawzi, who runs a shisha bar in the working-class district of Sayeda Zeinab.
Egypt is the Arab world’s most populous country and Africa’s third-largest economy, importing most of its fuel needs. Government data show the state spent USD 8 bn on energy imports in the first eight months of 2023, up 46 % from the same period in 2022. Officials have blamed the spike on higher global oil prices since the 7 October Hamas attack and subsequent war in neighbouring Gaza.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told reporters the early — closing rule could cut nightly electricity demand by 15 % and save the treasury USD 1.5 bn in imported fuel over the next six months. He pledged that authorities will “strictly monitor” compliance, with power inspectors authorised to cut electricity to non-compliant sites.
The move follows similar steps taken during the 2022 Ukraine war, when Cairo delayed summer lighting of public streets and raised household utility tariffs to ease a balance-of-payments squeeze.
Giza restaurant manager Rana Hilal, 34, said she has already laid off six of her 22 wait staff this week. “We used to serve dinner until 2 am; now we lose two full seatings,” she.
Cabinet figures show Egypt’s hospitality sector employs about 3 million workers, mostly in informal jobs that offer no redundancy pay.
Khaled al — Banna, head of the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, urged the government to compensate owners for “forced” closures, but Madbouly ruled out subsidies, saying the state’s “priority is to ensure energy security.”.
Despite the squeeze, energy analysts expect Cairo to stick to its 2024 target of exporting 1.5 bcm of natural gas to Europe under long-term contracts signed through the AfCFTA-linked Energy Charter.
Cairo has also requested a new USD 1 bn loan tranche from the IMF, part of a USD 3 bn package agreed in December 2022 and now under review.
Source: Associated Press
