Gulf states have given billions in aid to Egypt. Now they want to see returns

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi last month sent a message to his Gulf allies. “The most important point here is support from our brothers,” he said at the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai, where he was guest of honor.

He was referring to the tens of billions of dollars in bailouts his country has received from the wealthy Gulf monarchies over the past decade.

The Gulf creditors are however changing the way they lend financial support to their North African ally, moving away from loosely conditioned handouts and central bank deposits and toward taking sizeable stakes in some of Egypt’s trophy assets. Many of those assets have long been under the control of Egypt’s military, an economic behemoth and the backbone of Sisi’s power.

The nation is seen by its neighbors as vital to regional stability and has often found a helping hand from richer Arab states. This time, however, Gulf Arab allies – especially Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – want to see returns.

The apparent shift in policy was clearly expressed by Mohammed Al-Jadaan, the finance minister of Saudi Arabia, one of Egypt’s biggest benefactors, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January.

He said they used to give direct grants and deposits “without strings attached,” without specifying the recipients, according to local media. “We’re changing that as we’re working with multilateral institutions to actually say we want to see reforms,” he added.