Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi announced Saturday a cabinet reshuffle to improve his government’s performance as it faces huge economic challenge.
Mahmoud Kamal Esmat was appointed to the Public Enterprises portfolio as Egypt seeks to attract investment in state-owned enterprises and generate funds. El-Sisi made no changes to the posts of finance, energy, defense or foreign minister.
Egypt’s parliament on Saturday approved the cabinet reshuffle comprising 13 ministers. The move came a day after President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi called on the assembly to convene in an extraordinary session to approve the changes.
The reshuffle included the ministers of Tourism, Higher Education, Trade and Industry, Water and Irrigation, Emigration and Civil Aviation.
In a statement, El- Sisi said the reshuffle aims to “revitalize the government’s performance on important issues domestically and abroad to protect the interests of the state and the services provided to Egyptian citizens.”
The cabinet reshuffle is the fifth since 2018. The last ministerial changes were in December 2019.
The cabinet reshuffle did not take place overnight, but took two weeks of consultations, during which the prime minister interviewed more than 50 personalities who were candidates for ministerial portfolios.
Rising oil and commodity prices have hit one of the world’s largest importers of wheat hard, as has the loss of tourists from Russia and Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine has put pressure on Egypt’s currency and prompted it to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund to boost one of the Arab world’s key economies.
