In recent weeks, Egyptians have been experiencing power outages, coinciding with an intense heatwave sweeping the country. This situation has sparked anger and, at times, ridicule, especially considering the billions of dollars invested in the electricity infrastructure over the years.
On Thursday, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the continuation of power cuts across the country to relieve the strain on the grid due to the unprecedented hot weather. He also called on government employees to work from home every Sunday during the coming month.
Like many countries worldwide, Egypt is facing a heatwave that started ten days ago, with temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius in some regions, according to the Egyptian Meteorological Authority.
During a press conference on Thursday, Madbouly explained that power cuts might last "at most" one or two hours a day. However, in recent days, residents in the Nile Delta, southern regions, and neighborhoods in the capital have reported experiencing power cuts for more extended periods in a single day.
These power outages bring back memories of the crisis during the tenure of the late Islamist President Mohammed Morsi when electricity blackouts and fuel shortages sparked widespread anger among Egyptians, leading them to protest against his rule until he was ousted by the military in July 2013.
Since then, Egypt has worked on developing its electricity sector, including a contract signed in 2015 with Siemens, the German company, to build three massive power stations at an investment of nearly seven billion dollars. This development increased the electricity grid's capacity to approximately 60,000 megawatts, covering double the consumption demand compared to 29,000 megawatts in 2012/13.
A week ago, the Egyptian Holding Company for Electricity issued a concise statement to inform citizens about the power cut plan, urging them to take precautions and safeguard their household appliances.
However, the wording of the statement was unclear to many Egyptians. It mentioned, "The load-shedding program will be executed according to the required capabilities of each control center," and "with the starting point of cutting off 10 minutes before the hour and 10 minutes after, and not exceeding one hour of power interruption."
But the statement did not specify at which hour this power cut would occur.
This led to a wave of satire on social media platforms, with users sharing the official statement alongside a humorous version captioned as the "translation." The humorous version stated, "No elevator operates 10 minutes before or after any hour... Power may be cut for no more than an hour... and so on every hour of the day."
Renowned Egyptian media personality Amr Adib questioned the meaning of the statement on his show on MBC Egypt and eventually received clarification from Ayman Hamza, the spokesman of the Ministry of Electricity, through a phone call. Hamza provided an example, saying, "If we are talking about 12 o'clock (AM or PM), there is a high possibility of a power outage between 11:50 and 12:10. But if it goes past 12:15, there won't be any interruption."
One user on Facebook posted a comparison between the elevator and a train, saying, "If you miss the elevator (the hour) by 10 minutes... you can catch the 1:30 one."
The mocking comments continued on social media.
Naguib Sawiris, one of Egypt's wealthiest businessmen, tweeted on his Twitter or "X" account, commenting on the crisis, "When Edison, the inventor of electricity, died in 1931, the world's electricity was turned off for a minute in his honor, and “adding,” Egypt and Lebanon continue to honor the man every day."
Other Facebook users sarcastically said, "They make us laugh," a play on the popular Arabic proverb "They make us laugh, and they make us cry."
Prominent human rights activist Mahienour El-Masry tweeted on her Twitter account, "So, the electricity load shedding only applies to the electricity and not the electricity bills, right??"
With bitterness, Islam, a 36-year-old Egyptian, told AFP, "Why are we exporting gas to Europe while living in darkness?" He refers to the government's decision to exempt coastal regions from the power cut schedule to avoid impacting tourism, and he adds, "I think in other countries, the priority is given to citizens."
According to the authorities, gas production in the country reached 69.2 billion cubic meters during the 2021/2022 period, with unprecedented natural gas exports reaching eight billion dollars in the last two years, compared to 0.6 billion dollars in 2013/14.
Egypt, with a population of 105 million, of who one-third live below the poverty line, is facing harsh economic conditions.
Earlier, the fact-checking page "Sahih Misr" on Facebook quoted a statement by Egyptian Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker in March, where he said, "The time for load shedding will not be repeated in Egypt, no matter how much the demand on the national electricity grid increases, whether during summer or winter."
The page commented, "But it seems the minister didn't keep his promise."
AFP