Egypt’s Army in Control of Vast Business Empire
Out in the desert to the east of the capital, Cairo, the Egyptian military has just finished building a massive new sports centre.
The resort is complete with a hotel and other facilities, including an impressive five-lane motorway, a flyover and a tunnel to ease potential traffic congestion on the way to a vast new suburb called “New Cairo”, where the rich and powerful, including members of the ruling military council (Scaf), have luxurious villas.
The centrepiece is a stadium called “30 June”, the date Scaf is supposed to hand over power to a civilian head of state.
The road leading up to the compound is decked with banners reading “the army and the people are one hand”.
Once a popular slogan at the height of the uprising that toppled Mubarak last year, it has since been replaced with “down, down with military rule” in Tahrir Square.
The resort was built in just under two years, testimony to the army’s ability to get things done quickly and effectively.
Business ventures ‘classified’
Protesters in Tahrir Square have been calling for the end of military rule
That is something widely acknowledged in Egypt.
Everyone says the army makes good projects for the country.
The military may be unpopular in Tahrir Square, but its approval ratings in wider society remain high - thanks in part to such infrastructure projects, but also to decades of state propaganda.