The Egyptian military has a substantial presence in the country’s economy, controlling stakes in a wide range of household brands and industrial products. From pasta to petrol stations, military-run enterprises are deeply integrated into daily life, highlighting the army’s long-standing economic role.

Driving through Cairo, many businesses, including restaurants, hotels, and even construction materials, are clearly marked as military-owned. Locals commonly refer to them as “Huwa gaysh” — “That’s army.” Even the ingredients for Egypt’s national dish, koshary, often come from military factories. The dish recently earned recognition from UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.

“What is extraordinary in Egypt is that a lot of these products made in military factories are sold in the general economy,” said Matteo Colombo, research fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael. “If you go to an Egyptian supermarket, you can easily find a bottle of water that is produced by the army.”

The International Monetary Fund has agreed to lend Egypt €6.8 billion to address economic challenges, but disbursements have been delayed, citing an economy “dominated by public-driven investments, an uneven playing field, and state-owned entities, including military ones.”

Egypt’s military involvement in the economy is not a recent development. It began under President Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s and 1960s, when the army was used to centralize state control and ensure rapid response in times of crisis. His successor, Anwar el-Sadat, formalized the army’s role in civilian production by establishing the National Service Projects Organization in 1979, which oversaw military production of both civilian and defense goods.

“The military’s share of any market sector was small before 2011, but grew dramatically in ‘strategic’ sectors such as cement and steel, building on strong presidential support and the military’s political dominance,” said Yezid Sayigh, author of Owners of the Republic: An Anatomy of Egypt’s Military Economy. The 2011 revolution further accelerated the military’s economic expansion, giving it a direct role in policy-making and state investment strategy.

Since 2015, Egypt has faced severe economic pressures. Inflation peaked at 38 percent in September 2023 and slowed to 12.3 percent, while the Egyptian pound has depreciated sharply, dropping from 9 per euro in 2015 to over 55 today. Analysts suggest that military involvement may help stabilize prices for consumers, offering affordable products while fostering a sense of national pride.

However, experts caution that the army’s dominance creates an uneven market. “You run the risk that if you have a large military production, you have fewer possibilities for others,” Colombo said. Sayigh added that the army’s control diverts credit, dominates investment opportunities, and raises costs for private actors, limiting broader economic growth.

Despite the military’s extensive involvement, the exact scale of its economic holdings remains unclear. “People try to find out the percentage of the Egyptian economy that is controlled by the military. I think that’s the wrong question. No one knows. Not even they know,” said Khaled Fahmy, professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Tufts University.