Cairo Ranks No. 1 in International Influence under the C2R Index's Foreign-Policy Pillar Egypt's Economy Holds the Region's Strongest Reserves and Credit Confidence I've been often accused of favouring criticism over praise — of writing from the attack angle rather than accentuating the positive. Admittedly, my style tends to focus on what remains to be done rather than what has already been achieved. This does not, however, mean I fail to see achievements: on the contrary I do recognise them clearly. Until now, however, my view was based more on personal impression than on empirical measurement. Impressions, however sincere, remain personal — grounded in human experience and the hardship people endure, rather than in the pragmatics of what must be done in moments of necessity rather than of choice. So this time I resolved to set aside subjectivity altogether. I decided to rely on globally accepted tools for evaluating government performance — thus providing the reader with a picture based on measurable indicators rather than sentiment. I sought to view the Egyptian government through the lens of numbers and benchmarks rather than through opinion or the hardship a populace endures in an unusually turbulent global era. This methodology allowed me to read the picture as it is — both its positives and its negatives — and in a moment that no longer permits ignoring the weight of real change and real achievement. Typically, when government performance is discussed, viewpoints and personal impressions crowd in; the scientific method is displaced, and data mingles with attitudes. But once performance is placed within a rigorous, measurable frame, the image clarifies, and debate shifts into objective analysis based on numbers rather than emotion. From that standpoint, I attempted to measure the performance of Egypt's government during the recent period using two internationally recognised analytical indices: the first, the Crisis-to-Reform Conversion Index (C2R), and the second, the Social Return on Reform Index (SRI). The first index assesses a government's capacity to manage economic and political crises and to transform them into long-term structural reforms. The second measures the extent to which the results of those reforms have reached society, and the balance achieved between economic stability and social justice. My choice of these two indices was no coincidence: Egypt's recent experience is among the most complex globally in the developing world. The country faced sharp global inflation, financial pressures, energy and food crises — yet the state chose not to treat these shocks as ephemeral events but rather as opportunities for internal economic and administrative rebuilding. Hence I found C2R and SRI to be the fairest tools for gauging this experience, since they connect a government's crisis-management capacity with its ability to effect sustainable reform. The C2R Index is structured around six interrelated pillars which represent the foundations of any state's success in managing its economy during crisis: inflation control; exchange-rate flexibility; quality of external finance; reform of subsidy and energy systems; private-sector empowerment; and finally the deployment of geopolitical influence for development. Applying these pillars to Egypt yields obviously positive results. In the area of inflation control, for example, Egypt achieved exceptional success — reducing inflation from around 38% in 2023 to 11.7% in September 2025, one of the fastest rates of decline in the region. This was no coincidence but the outcome of tight coordination between the government and the central bank through a joint committee monitoring price indicators daily and intervening swiftly when needed. That coordination produced an interconnected policy network: boosting domestic food production, diversifying import sources, securing strategic stockpiles, and expanding subsidised retail outlets to relieve market pressure — while food security and energy projects strengthened the productive base and prevented price surges from spiralling. Meanwhile, foreign reserves climbed to US$49.5 billion — their highest level since 2010 — giving the economy flexibility to withstand external shocks. At the same time, S&P Global Ratings upgraded Egypt's sovereign credit rating to 'B' with a stable outlook, while Fitch maintained a similar assessment — signalling a gradual return of international confidence in Egypt's capacity to meet its financial obligations and restore economic stability. On the foreign-policy and international-organisational front, the current government has succeeded where previous administrations did not. In October 2025, Egypt secured the presidency of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) for the 2026-2028 term — the first Arab nation to hold this global post since the organisation's founding. The significance of this event extends beyond symbolism: it grants Egypt a pivotal role in shaping global industrial and quality standards. This diplomatic victory can translate directly into industrial benefit: Egypt's leadership at the ISO allows it to contribute to updating domestic specifications, raising the quality of production, and facilitating smoother access for exports to international markets. In other words, Egypt has acquired an institutional arm capable of supporting its industrial and export transformation. Simultaneously, Egypt gained membership in the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2026-2028 period, winning the backing of 173 states — reflecting international appreciation for its regional and diplomatic role. Moreover, Dr Khaled El-Anany was nominated for Director-General of UNESCO, after previous unsuccessful Egyptian bids. This time, the outcome differed in every respect: Egyptian diplomatic discourse was more mature, its coalitions broader, and its diplomacy conducted in the language of mutual interest rather than slogans. This success in foreign policy coincided with a central role in brokering the Gaza cease-fire in coordination with the United States, Qatar, and Türkiye. Cairo acted as an impartial mediator trusted by all parties, successfully easing one of the most complex humanitarian and political crises in the region. These combined achievements transformed Egypt's foreign policy from mere file-handling into a tool of direct influence over economy and politics alike. That presence on the global stage reinforced confidence among financial institutions: the IMF announced its intention to merge the fifth and sixth reviews of its cooperation programme with Egypt in an unprecedented step, signalling accelerated disbursement of funds and reflecting renewed trust in Egypt's reform trajectory. Turning to the Social Return on Reform Index (SRI) — while the first index shows how the government managed the crisis, the second asks: to what extent has that management reached the people? In this index, Egypt ranked second after Morocco thanks to a clear improvement in financial inclusion and the empowerment of productive groups: the share of women with bank accounts or digital wallets has reached roughly 70% — among the highest in Africa and the Arab world — reflecting the success of digital-transformation and financial-literacy initiatives. Yet women's participation in the labour market remains limited at approximately 15%, meaning that financial inclusion has yet to translate into productive inclusion. In parallel, cash-transfer and subsidy policies improved in targeting — helping alleviate the burden on the poor and lower-middle classes, albeit gradually. Reading the two indices together reveals that Egypt is heading in the right direction: it has succeeded in managing shocks and converting them into genuine institutional and economic reforms, and the benefits of reform have begun to ripple into society. The next phase must be one of consolidation and sustainability: cementing price stability; sustaining coordination between the government and central bank; turning Egypt's ISO presidency into a national quality plan, accelerating the state's exit from the market in favour of the private sector, raising women's labour-force participation, and leveraging Egypt's diplomatic presence to attract deeper, longer-term economic partnerships. Egypt has covered significant ground on the reform journey and regained the world's confidence in its ability to manage crises with intelligence and flexibility. Yet this chapter marks a new beginning, not an end. If the government succeeds in completing the reform agenda — from reinforcing price stability and expanding private-sector participation to converting its international position into a developmental and industrial instrument, while deepening the social impact of reform — Egypt's experience could become an international model for the developing world. The world today is searching for credible success stories from the Global South — and Egypt possesses the political, geographic, and human endowments to serve as one. If it maintains the same discipline and coordination between government and central bank, and sustains the same open-minded diplomatic vision, then Egypt will not just be a country that emerged from its crises — but a country that transformed its crises into reform, its reform into prosperity, and its prosperity into a human-economic experience that inspires others.
