Show of support as Egypt inaugurates Suez Canal extension
Egypt staged a show of international support yesterday as it inaugurated a major extension of the Suez Canal which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hopes will power an economic turnaround in the Arab world’s most populous country.
The former armed forces chief, who led a military takeover two years ago but ran for president as a civilian last year, told a ceremony attended by leaders of France, Russia, Arab and African states that Egypt would defeat terrorism.
The $8 billion (R102bn) New Suez Canal project was completed in just one year instead of three on Sisi’s orders, but economists and shipping analysts question whether there is sufficient traffic to meet its ambitious revenue targets. “Work did not take place in normal circumstances, and these circumstances still exist and we are fighting them and we will defeat them,” Sisi said. “Egypt during this year stood against the most dangerous terrorist threat that would burn the world if it could.”
The canal expansion is the centrepiece of a grand agenda by Sisi to cement his tenure as the man who brought stability and prosperity to Egypt.