Why Egypt's New Capital is Bankrupting the Country

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Select video clips courtesy of Getty Images

Select video clips courtesy of the AP Archive

Special thanks to MapTiler, OpenStreetMap Contributors, and GEOlayers

[nasseribnamr]

As an Egyptian, every cent is going to this city. propaganda is saying to us that it will benefit us but it will only be for the rich while the people are not even capable to buy sugar

[AmariFukui]

You all seem to be forgetting that Egypt gets a 20% bonus to production of Great Wonders, they're just playing this one to the meta

[chrisdalton]

Trade offer:
You get:
-Sky high cost of living
-Generations worth of debt
-low international exchange rate
- double digit inflation

I get:
- football stadium
- big pillar
- golden palace :)

[DevAbdelrahmanMostafa]

As an Egyptian, I'm bewildered by how we've reached this point. I deeply regret to admit that everything you've expressed in the video is undeniably true. At 25 years old, I find myself unable to grasp the rationale behind constructing the administrative capital, yet your explanation has shed light on this matter for Egyptians who were in the dark.

It's truly disheartening to see how a foreigner can grasp our situation, understand our problems and their solutions, and even benefit from them, while we, the people, continue to struggle.

This represents a humble contribution to help disseminate awareness through your videos and elevate collective consciousness.

[dragondev]

As an Egyptian I'm telling you If those Billions of Dollars were spent on Improving our Economy, Infrastructure, Education, Production Factories, Agriculture, it would've been so much more beneficial to us in the short and long terms, but No! they spent it on building Ultra Expensive Apartments In the Desert and new Government Districts so they can Practice their Corruption In better Offices.

[bababababababa]

Egypt’s new capital is basically like South Korea’s new capital. Only difference is that Korea has the money in case it fails 💀

[mervanhella]

- Egypt 2800 BCE : we're going to invest all of our resources into building a megaproject for our Pharaoh
- Egypt 2024 CE: we're going to invest all of our resources into building a megaproject for our Pharaoh

[PokemonJacob-vili]

You know it's bad when even Emirati investors think it's bad

[veitforabetterworld]

Fix existing problems in Capital city ❌
Build new city with non existing money ✔️

[joostverra]

Corruption truly is one of the worlds greatest and most tragic diseases. I wish all the best for the Egyptian people.

[EyesOfByes]

If I were Egypt, I'd pull a "Norway" and fill the dessert with solar power and sell it to Europe

[nerawy]

As an Egyptian who is deeply invested in our geopolitical and economical situations for 5+ years now I wouldn't have made it clearer. Amazing effort! An important piece of information you left behind is the Zohr natural gas field, which was discovered in 2015, promising the Egyptians a stable and guaranteed energy source for many years to come, only to be surprised last May by a severe decline in its production capacity, which prompted the government to take heinous decisions, such as reducing the loads on residential areas throughout Egypt for a period of up to four hours a day, and return to importing natural gas again in a time where huge dept interests are due.

[shubashuba]

You know your vanity project is bad when even the Chinese and UAE pull out.

[beno]

As a now middle-aged African, I have ever-increasing contempt for leaders along the length and breadth of the continent who think that they can buy prestige rather than build it. Why all the focus on having the biggest, the tallest, the largest structures? That means nothing when you haven't dealt with fundamentals such as improving civil infrastructure and minimising corruption.

[balkanmadnessmadeinaustria]

*Why cant countries build smaller, but quality cities. I live in Vienna, 50% of the area is greenery or forest the other is city. Nearly no skyscrapers, but Barock buildings and good urban planning. Don't build a city to show of, build a city, where people want to live.*

[dramlamb]

"Egypt has been forced to import the majority of it's wheat from abroad, which has made Egypt the largest importer of wheat in the world."

Wow. Times have changed.

[TaherAbdelazim]

I'm an Egyptian living in the capitol Cairo, and for a year now the electricity cuts everyday 2 hours or more because according to the government we cannot afford not to have daily cutoffs to save money.

[saifdes]

It’s funny how an “outsider” independent online creator was able to explain our miserable situation better than our own so called “experts”. It’s sad, very sad actually, there doesn’t seem to be light at the end of this tunnel we’re digging into.

[OmnipresentPotato]

There was a power crisis last summer so they scheduled outages across the summer months... In order to diver enough electricity to the new captial. It's mind-boggling.

[cdbiswr]

Oh My God, I spent a WHOLE HOUR watching this and rewinding the parts that were interesting and I didn't feel the time at all... thank you for this amazing episode