KAWA MULTIMEDIA PUBLICATIONS
Industrial development in Egypt
Egypt as a whole is the second biggest industrial country after South Africa and most of this development is found in lower Egypt.
Egypt has a very special problem, which becomes more acute as each year passes. It lies in the fact that Egypt will, in all probability, never be able to grow all her own food. Because of this she must develop and expand her industrial base so that exports from industry can pay for the import of food.
The building of the Aswan Dam provided the power for expansion and great developments have already taken place in the production of cement, iron and steel, fertilizers, oil refining, textiles, light and heavy engineering and electrical goods of all sorts. As yet these industrial products have not made much impact on Egypt's exports, 69% of which were made up of cotton (raw and manufactured) and crude oil in 1980.
The new industries are however supplying the home market and saving on the cost of importing them from elsewhere. A huge home market is important in industrial development as it provides a reliable base from which to expand. Egypt's forty million people provide this base.
A flourishing electronics industry producing radios and television equipment is situated at Dar es Salaam, a suburb of Cairo. The iron and steel plant at Helwan shown in Fig, 116 has undergone expansion using iron ore from Aswan and the Bahariya Oasis. Power is supplied by Aswan.
The textile industry is very large and widespread. Its raw material is cotton, grown throughout the length and breadth of the Nile Valley. Helwan, Giza, El Mahalla el Kubra and Kafr ei Dauwar are all towns with textile mills. Every year Egypt spins, weaves and prints more of her own cotton. Egypt exported 296.4 £E million worth of raw cotton in 1980. Could this be the sign that the textile industry is becoming so well established that Egypt can soon afford to grow less cotton, more food and still make money from textiles?
Egypt has a very special problem, which becomes more acute as each year passes. It lies in the fact that Egypt will, in all probability, never be able to grow all her own food. Because of this she must develop and expand her industrial base so that exports from industry can pay for the import of food.
The building of the Aswan Dam provided the power for expansion and great developments have already taken place in the production of cement, iron and steel, fertilizers, oil refining, textiles, light and heavy engineering and electrical goods of all sorts. As yet these industrial products have not made much impact on Egypt's exports, 69% of which were made up of cotton (raw and manufactured) and crude oil in 1980.
The new industries are however supplying the home market and saving on the cost of importing them from elsewhere. A huge home market is important in industrial development as it provides a reliable base from which to expand. Egypt's forty million people provide this base.
A flourishing electronics industry producing radios and television equipment is situated at Dar es Salaam, a suburb of Cairo. The iron and steel plant at Helwan shown in Fig, 116 has undergone expansion using iron ore from Aswan and the Bahariya Oasis. Power is supplied by Aswan.
The textile industry is very large and widespread. Its raw material is cotton, grown throughout the length and breadth of the Nile Valley. Helwan, Giza, El Mahalla el Kubra and Kafr ei Dauwar are all towns with textile mills. Every year Egypt spins, weaves and prints more of her own cotton. Egypt exported 296.4 £E million worth of raw cotton in 1980. Could this be the sign that the textile industry is becoming so well established that Egypt can soon afford to grow less cotton, more food and still make money from textiles?