Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi today vowed to resolve the country's electricity crisis and outlined a multi-billion dollar plan to fix power outages after a massive blackout struck the capital recently.
In a televised address, Sisi asked Egyptians to cooperate with the government and remain patient to overcome the crisis.
"I will not address you with a pre-written speech. I am speaking out of responsibility. Please be patient. You must be sure that we will overcome all this but not in a month or two or three," he said.
Sisi said Egypt needs to invest at least 130 billion Egyptian pounds in the next five years to generate sufficient amount of electricity to meet the increasing demands.
"Electricity sector is suffering as its problems have not been solved since years. The sector needs great investments and this could not happen in an overnight," said Sisi.
He also vowed to get to the bottom of recent power disruptions in the country of some 90 million.
On Thursday, a massive power outage had halted Cairo's subway, disrupted airport operations, took TV stations off the air and left and left parts of the capital without water. It was gradually restored several hours later.
The outage was largely blamed on the lack of investments in the sector and a crumbling infrastructure.
Sisi said the widespread power outages in recent days were the most significant incidents since the 90s and called on people to cooperate with the government as the government and presidential institute cannot face these challenges alone.
"There is a partnership between an official and his people and the challenge is great. Me and the government cannot face the challenge and solve the problems individually without the support of people," said the President.
Sisi's predecessor Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's failure to overcome the electricity crisis fed the public anger against him during his time in power. Morsi was ousted last year by Sisi.
