Why is Egypt's army now in the baby formula business?
While Egypt's army has long played a large role in the country's economy, recent steps taken by the armed forces in the baby formula and education sector have reignited fears about its financial power.
On Sept. 3, the Egyptian armed forces issued a statement announcing their intention to import the first shipment of baby formula, just one day after citizens cut off the road to protest the shortage of fortified baby formula. On Sept. 19, the first shipments arrived from France.
In his statement, the military spokesman warned citizens of being misled by rumors, saying, “Citizens must realize that the armed forces exert all efforts to ease the burden on ordinary citizens.”
This stirred a campaign of sarcasm and mockery on social networking sites criticizing the army’s repeated intervention in civil life sectors, including the education sector through Badr International Schools (BIS).
On its official website, BIS identifies itself as “one of the goals that the Egyptian armed forces has had for years now, and that is finally being implemented successfully by the primary decision-maker and supervisor himself, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.”
