Up to 17 million Egyptians receive electricity for less than a quarter of its price: President Sisi

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that up to 17 million Egyptians receive electricity for less than a quarter of its actual price. Reflecting on the implications of providing cheap electricity, Sisi touched upon the widespread issue of power theft, stating the occurrence of one million instances of electricity theft per month. These thefts put a substantial drain on the revenue of electricity, of which people bear only a fraction. Speaking about the nation's power outages, Sisi explained that the load shedding strategy helps to save USD 300 million. Addressing his people's complaints about power cuts, he questioned who would undertake the financial obligation if not them. His comments were made during the conference “The Story of a Homeland between Vision and Achievement”, where he further deliberated upon the challenges underlying the country's plans for energy self-sufficiency, especially in the context of green hydrogen production. The president also provided insights into the impact of the pandemic on investment activities of international oil companies and the country's gas export earnings worth $2.8 billion.