by Emre Gurkan Abay & Nuran Erkul
ANKARA
Western companies have inked a number of massive trade deals with Egypt since the country’s first democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown and Egyptian President el-Sisi came to power in 2013.
While the rest of the world still awaits a “response” to the ousting of Morsi in mid-2013 by the Egyptian army, which was headed at the time by el-Sisi, the volume of deals, mostly signed by Western companies, reached $138 billion.
The U.K. has increased its trade volume with Egypt by 30 percent in 2014 compared to a year earlier. The country's representatives paid a visit in last March to Egypt with a delegation from giants like BP, BG and Vodafone, led by the country’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond.
British oil giant BP signed an oil and gas production deal with el-Sisi this year which amounted to $12 billion. According to the deal, the company will explore and produce oil and gas in the Eastern Nile and in the Suez Canal.
World-renowned German energy company, Siemens, is another company that managed to ink a lucrative deal with el-Sisi. The company announced in 2014 that it will construct 12 wind farms and three gas plants, worth around $8.9 billion.
After the signing ceremony of the deal, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced her criticism of Egypt's use of the death penalty and its record on religious freedom. However, she also pledged closer economic ties with Egypt.
Eni, another European company, announced in late March that it will invest $5 billion in Egypt in order to produce 200 million barrels of oil and 33 billion cubic meters of gas in the next four years.
“Egypt’s challenge is our challenge, Egypt’s journey is our journey and Egypt’s stability is our stability,” Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, said after the signing ceremony of the deal. In return, el-Sisi thanked Renzi for Italy’s “active role” in Egypt’s development.
While U.S. President Barrack Obama said in April that he will continue to request an annual $1.3 billion in military assistance to Egypt, Russia and Egypt had signed a memorandum of understanding to build a nuclear reactor for power generation in Egypt's northwestern Al-Dabaa region.
Morsi was ousted by a coup led by current President Abdel Fattah Sisi in July 2013.
Since then, the military-backed authorities have launched a massive crackdown on Morsi supporters, with scores of defendants handed long-term prison sentences or the death penalty.
The atmosphere of oppression in the country is helping Daesh and similar extremist movements gain a foothold in the region. A petition last week by a group of about 50 scholars, activists and advocacy groups in the U.S. called on international organizations, such as the UN and the EU as well as countries like the U.S., to defend human rights in Egypt.
