Who’s who in Madbuly’s new Cabinet?

A new government swore its oath of office on Wednesday before President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. 

The new lineup, which includes fresh faces as well as some old ones, saw some ministerial portfolios merged, favoring officials who have backgrounds in global affairs, business and technology. 

The previous professional credits boasted by the 20 new appointees run the gamut from the corridors of global finance, such as the IMF and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to international oil corporations like Schlumberger. 

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbuly has retained his place at the helm of the government, which he has held since 2018. Aside from him, only around a third of the 2022 Cabinet made the cut.

It is the first reshuffle in Sisi’s third presidential term — his last constitutionally allowed term in office, though under the pre-2019 version of the constitution, he would only have been allowed two consecutive terms.

Ahead of Madbuly’s Cabinet lies a set of exceptional economic challenges, as Egypt recalibrates following a multi-billion dollar, multi-party bailout in the wake of years of spiraling economic turmoil. 

Most of the ministers who headed finance and economy-related portfolios in the prior Cabinet formation have exited their roles, including the ministers of finance, planning, petroleum, electricity, supply, and trade and industry, leaving behind them a major debt burden weighing heavy on the national balance of payments. 

Many of those ministers took unpopular political decisions, including the first hike to the price of subsidized bread in around 30 years and huge cutbacks in fuel and electricity subsidies, even as daily power outages take place across the country. Though those ministers consistently said they were acting on the president’s orders, as all incoming ministers will doubtless say, that hasn’t stopped them from taking the fall.

Other challenges posing an urgent dilemma — not only for the new ministers but also for embattled citizens navigating the new economic reality — include skyrocketing commodity prices and an energy crisis that has caused daily nationwide power cuts.

The formation has taken a month to put together, leaving Egypt with an acting government in the meantime.

So, without further ado, meet Egypt’s new Cabinet.

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Kamel al-Wazir: The minister’s minister 

After five years at the helm of the Transportation Ministry and at the president’s right hand, Kamel al-Wazir’s star appears to be rising in the new reshuffle, riding a high that began with his appointment as Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority in 2014 following Sisi’s accession to the presidency, and later as head of the authority. 

Aside from being a textbook case of nominative determinism, Wazir has assumed a newly created role as vice prime minister for industry. His ministership has also been expanded to include the Transportation and Industry Ministry, a newly merged department in the 2024 Cabinet.

Officials have yet to comment on the reasoning behind the merging of the transportation and industry ministries. However, Wazir has already publicly committed to splitting his working hours equally between the two roles, telling the press on Wednesday evening that he will be dedicating the hours between 8 am and 3 pm to his industrial responsibilities, and attending to the transportation portfolio from 3 pm until 10 pm.

Since he first assumed office in 2019 — shortly after his predecessor’s resignation in the wake of a major train crash in Cairo, Wazir has projected an image of a strong military man; a son of the Armed Forces who checks in regularly with all the ministry’s facilities, dealing firmly with suspected negligence, especially in the national railway network. “I’m giving the ministry to one of the best military officers,” Sisi said of Wazir’s appointment. 

Wazir has also proven himself capable of deflecting criticism. Responding to critics in the wake of a 2021 train crash, the minister quipped that he does not drive the trains himself.

The military discipline that has earned him the nickname “the train” by his supporters, has seen Wazir persist in executing one unpopular road project after another, in addition to other mega transportation projects, such as the monorail and the electric trains which have become the key pillars of the government’s rhetoric about “the third republic.”

His performance has also been characterized by a tendency to borrow. Loans taken by entities affiliated with the Transportation Ministry outside the state’s budget for fiscal year 2024/25 represent about 91.5 percent of the state’s total borrowing of LE236.748 billion, according to the statistical statement for the budget. 

Wazir’s press appearances have included lengthy segments on some of the country’s most popular television shows, sometimes as travel companion to television anchor Ahmed Moussa in a trip to Alexandria in a new train carriage, other times in the role of negotiator with residents being displaced by one national project or another — as is the case with the residents of Warraq Island, who have been displaced for the sake of “development.”

Prior to his time in Cabinet and during his tenure as the head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, the institution became a major player in national projects across various sectors, chief among which was the new Suez Canal. Wazir oversaw the construction of the new Suez Canal in just one year, as per Sisi’s orders. “Only one year, Kamel,” the president said, a haste that Wazir later described as being more for the benefit of public morale than economic development. 

The episode is just one of many well-storied and friendly public exchanges between Sisi and Wazir. This includes an emotional anecdote that goes something like this: Wazir was stressed about delays in the construction of canal tunnels in Ismailia, to ease his stress, a fatherly Sisi said, “I swear by your tears, Kamel, we will succeed.”

Ahmed Kouchouk: The man from the IMF

Ahmed Kouchouk was previously vice minister of finance for fiscal policy, having served as director of the International Monetary Fund’s Macro-Fiscal Policy Unit from 2010 until 2013.

His previous experience allowed him to play a role in “the entire ministry,” according to a source formerly employed at the Finance Ministry who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. 

As such, the source explains, Kouchouk has had a hand in some of the main policy decisions that defined recent years. 

“The macro-fiscal policy unit dictates macroeconomic policy choices,” the source says. “High-level political decisions often prioritize spending on specific items, such as presidential health initiatives.”

The source notes that this “necessitates complementary decisions by the financial policy unit to cut back expenditure elsewhere,” adding that such decisions are not just driven by economic and technical considerations, “but also political ones.” For instance, Kouchouk’s unit opted to cut public investment in hospitals in favor of the presidential health initiatives, according to the source.

The centrality of the unit’s role was evident too in determining spending allocations on health and education, amid a controversial policy direction over recent years to reduce the percentage of spending on the two portfolios as part of gross domestic product in violation of a constitutionally mandated minimum spend. Kouchouk was key in “crafting” amended definitions for what constitutes spending on health, education and scientific research to circumvent the constitutional requirement to meet a spending benchmark on these budgetary items by 2016/17. 

The unit also oversees all taxation, revenue generation and borrowing policies, according to the source. Consequently, “Kouchouk’s unit was directly responsible for all the unpopular policies post-2016,” the source says.  

As for how Kouchouk has managed the unit, the source also notes that “Kouchouk significantly bolstered the unit’s influence by recruiting researchers, many educated abroad, under contract rather than employment.” Budget rationalization measures introduced during the pandemic have frozen government hires. The source says that “these contracts were funded through the allocations from the Operational Unit for Development Assistance, which Kouchouk himself oversees, and included administrative assistance aid funds.”

Kouchouk’s professional history, aside from the brief period he spent as finance minister prior to stepping down shortly before the military ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi, reveals a robust relationship with the institutions of international finance which have loomed large over the past decade for Egypt. Following a period at the World Bank from 2013 to 2016, he returned to the Finance Ministry in 2016, assuming the role of chief negotiator and primary liaison between the government and the International Monetary Fund. Moreover, Kouchouk is also Egypt’s representative at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. 

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Badr Abdel Atty: The European connection

Succeeding Sameh Shoukry, who has been in office since June 2014, the new reshuffle brought in a new minister of foreign affairs: Ambassador Badr Abdel Atty. He will also take charge of the migration and Egyptians abroad file, which used to be a separate ministry headed by outgoing Nabila Makram, and which will now be folded into the Foreign Ministry.

Abdel Aty is the first foreign minister since Egypt’s independence to graduate from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University, though the faculty has paved the route to many other illustrious diplomatic careers. His career journey since the end of the 1980s has taken him through some major stops, including service at the Egyptian embassies in Tel Aviv, Washington, DC, Tokyo and Brussels in various roles, and holding posts in important files at various stages, including Palestinian affairs, the peace process and African and European affairs.

Immediately prior to joining the Cabinet, Abdel Atty was Egypt’s ambassador to Brussels and the European Union in 2022, earning him a media moniker  as “the architect of Egyptian-European relations during the last decade.” 

Egyptian-EU relations have witnessed important developments in recent years as Egypt has leant on the relationship amid its need for funding, and as the country becomes a key player in the EU’s border policy against migrants and refugees. Over the same period, relationships have also emerged linking Tel Aviv, Cairo and Brussels, with the three government’s inking a commitment to increase the amount of Israeli natural gas piped to Egypt for liquefaction and delivery to the EU, as the latter moves away from dependence on Russian gas.

Less illustrious career highlights include Abdel Atty’s period as Egypt’s ambassador to Germany between 2015 and 2019, when his name was circulated against the backdrop of a criminal investigation on corruption charges in 2017. The Administrative Control Authority, tasked with investigating the embassy’s loss of funds and possessions estimated at 250,000 euros in value, questioned Abdel-Atty on charges that he purchased a Mercedes for the Berlin embassy and registered it under his name instead, Mada Masr revealed at the time.

His time in Germany was followed in 2020 by accusations from a number of Egyptian activists and researchers residing in Berlin, who said the Egyptian embassy had monitored them and written reports about them for years.

Abdel Atty’s pinnacle in the media spotlight came in 2015, however, near the end of his tenure as deputy assistant foreign minister and the ministry’s spokesperson. During a phone-in to Al-Hayat television channel, he emphasized how promptly the ministry had responded to calls from Egyptians stranded in Libya at the time and, as the TV anchor tried to call one of the two numbers on air to no avail, Abdel Atty could be heard reprimanding one of his employees, saying, “answer the phone, you son of a bitch.”

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Other notable new players

Sameh Hefny: Civil aviation minister 

Hefny joins the Cabinet after briefly leading the Holding Company of the Egyptian Aviation Academy, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority and state carrier, EgyptAir. 

Like some of the other new faces, Hefny has a history with corruption allegations. He left EgyptAir in August 2015, just 18 months into his tenure, after his dismissal by then-Aviation Minister Hossam Kamal at the president’s directive, as reported by Sada al-Balad. Reports at the time said that the Administrative Control Authority recommended his dismissal after he falsely presented information about his salary, declaring only LE85,000, when he in fact received LE120,000. Although the story was accessible on Sada al-Balad’s website on Wednesday morning, it was apparently taken down. Hefni denied his dismissal, stating instead that he had resigned from his position. 

Al-Masry Al-Youm cited sources in a 2015 report, indicating that Kamal had used the authority’s reports to oust Hefny. “Some close associates suggested to him that [Hefny] was exploiting his position to court certain influential figures in government circles to secure a nomination as a minister in the next cabinet reshuffle,” the sources said. 

Civil aviation has come under the spotlight in recent months, as the government moves toward inviting the private sector to manage airports which are currently state-run, while speculation has also circulated about the potential of privatizing EgyptAir. 

Karim Badawy: Petroleum minister 

The new petroleum minister, taking over amid a period of crisis for Egypt’s energy environment, was previously the managing director of Schlumberger-Egypt and East Mediterranean, a major global player in the energy services sector. With a career spanning more than two decades at the company, he ascended to his current position 18 months ago. 

A former government official told Mada Masr that his appointment represents a technocratic direction, aligning with current challenges in the ministry such as resolving financial differences between the ministry and the electricity ministry, and addressing the issues foreign investors face in the petroleum and gas sector.

Mohamed Abdel Latif: Education minister

Abdel Latif’s background in education comprises his management of the renowned Nermin Ismail Schools (NIS), which are owned by his mother, the daughter of Field Marshal Ahmed Ismail. Abdel Latif also holds a doctorate in integrating virtual learning with traditional methods of schooling. His appointment appears consistent with the government's push toward expanding online learning and increasing state investment in both public and private schools, as well as fostering partnerships with the education private sector to transfer its expertise to the ministry. 

Abdel Latif succeeds Tarek Shawky, whose reform attempts and management of a teaching staff crisis sparked significant controversy. 

The appointment coincides with recurring annual disputes between the ministry and private schools over tuition fee hikes, a decision that rests with the education minister and affects a large segment of families. Some believe that private school owners and directors are solely driven by profit, with hopes that the new minister, who was on the other side of the equation until just a few days ago, will support their interest. 

Sherif Farouk: Supply minister 

At first glance, Sherif Farouk's new role as the supply minister and his previous role as chair of the Egyptian National Postal Authority (Egypt Post) may seem unrelated. Yet the career move reflects the government’s direction away from the “burden” of in-kind subsidies on key commodities such as fuel, bread and other food goods, and toward cash assistance. The shift calls for a minister capable of establishing a governmental payment system for disbursing cash assistance. Perhaps this is where Farouk comes in, as he executed the roll-out of a similar system to manage pension disbursements during his tenure as head of the authority and earlier at the Nasser Social Bank, according to an advisor to former supply minister Aly Meselhy, speaking to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. 

Alaa Farouk, a former banker with a background in agricultural finance, is also set to take on a new role as agriculture minister, succeeding outgoing Sayed al-Quseir, while Sherif al-Sherbiny, who has a background in the New Administrative Capital Authority and the New and Urban Communities Authority succeeds Assem al-Gazzar as housing minister. Mohamed Ibrahim Ahmed Shimi, who has a background in petroleum and petrochemicals companies, is to accede to the Public Enterprise Ministry, while Hassan Al-Khatib is to take over a newly created portfolio, the Investment and Foreign Trade Ministry. Khatib previously held a role as a non-executive board member of the Egyptian Sovereign Fund and as executive director of direct investment at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Maya Morsy, former head of the National Council for Women, is to take over the Social Solidarity Ministry from the outgoing Nevine Qabbag.

Staying in their roles are Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfiq, Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad,  International Cooperation Minister Rania al-Mashat (although her ministry has been expanded to become the International Cooperation and Planning Ministry), Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Higher Education Minister Ayman Ashour, Communications and Information Technology Minister Amr Talaat, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam, and youth and sports minister Ashraf Sobhy.