The Euromoney Conference, one of Egypt’s most significant economic events, attracts considerable attention from the government, local and foreign investors, and both domestic and international media. In front of this high-profile audience and under the glare of a major media spotlight, Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin announced that it was time to implement the ‘trickle-down’ economic policy—an unfamiliar term to most attendees, who sought clarification once his speech had ended.
Curiously, ‘trickle-down’ has yet to find a proper Arabic translation. The small circle of economists familiar with the concept continue to use its English name, while Arabic dictionaries translate it with a single word that would likely provoke unease among most Egyptians: ‘taqtir’ (drip-feeding).
A quick look at the trickle-down theory reveals that it revolves around the idea that economic benefits gained by large investors will eventually filter down to smaller businesses and lower-income consumers. This approach first emerged in a limited form following the Great Depression of the late 1920s, before making a stronger return with Latin America’s economic growth experiments. Brazil, for instance, sustained growth rates exceeding 7% for several consecutive years during the 1960s and 1970s, prompting some to call it the leader of the developing world. Yet in reality, poverty remained entrenched in its most inhumane form, persisting to this day.
This failure led economists to shift their perspective on development, moving away from a model that ties progress solely to economic growth. Instead, they adopted a more comprehensive approach rooted in human development, where economic expansion is merely one factor among many. This shift called for a redistribution of investment returns in ways that would directly benefit lower-income groups.
Agreeing with this broader principle, Mohieldin asserted that the time had come to implement this policy in Egypt. He outlined a strategy aimed at transferring the benefits of economic growth to citizens through increased investment in infrastructure projects, expanding the labour market, job creation, and ensuring fair competition for small investors.
The minister also highlighted the connection between this policy and the government’s new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework for infrastructure investment. A significant portion of these projects, he noted, would be directed towards the governorates, in line with the government’s plans for economic decentralisation and the expansion of public services.
In summary, if properly implemented, this policy could indeed offer a way out of Egypt’s deepening socioeconomic crisis—one that is widening the gap between its social classes by the day. Or, to put it more bluntly, between its upper and lower classes, as the middle class continues to erode under the weight of previous economic policies.
The mere mention of this previously unknown term may revive some hope for change among the vast majority of Egyptians struggling in poverty. However, implementation itself presents serious challenges, particularly from powerful domestic investors with monopolistic tendencies, as well as international institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which traditionally discourage such government interventions. Perhaps the first challenge for the government should be to send an urgent request to the Arabic Language Academy to find a translation for ‘trickle-down’ that Egyptian society can accept. After all, the word ‘taqtir’ will do little but remind people of years of hardship when even the rain refused to ‘drip’—and they are in no mood for yet another drought.
This article is originally published by AlBorsa in Arabic and later AI-translated by South Push.