Egypt is busily building expressways
But locals would prefer a more carfree Cairo
THE NEW flyover in Giza, near Cairo, is something to behold. The road runs so close to the adjacent apartment buildings that some residents can reach out of their windows and touch it (see picture). One jokingly told a local newspaper that he would invite passing motorists in for tea on his balcony. But the road is more than just an object of ridicule. To many Egyptians, it is a symbol of their government’s ineptitude, as it pursues an ambitious national development plan.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “A rage for roads”
Middle East & Africa October 10th 2020
From the October 10th 2020 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Middle East & Africa
Three big lawsuits against Meta in Kenya may have global implications
One was prompted by the murder of an Ethiopian professor
Trump should try to end, not manage, the Middle East’s oldest conflicts
And he should see the region as more than a source of instability and arms deals
Government by social media in Somalia
Cheap data, social media and creativity are filling in for an absent state
The Gaza ceasefire is stoking violence in the West Bank
Hamas and the Israeli far right both want to destabilise the West Bank
How Turkey plans to expand its influence in the new Syria
Its influence could cause tensions with the Arab world—and Israel
The start of a fragile truce in Gaza offers relief and joy
But the ceasefire is not yet the end of the war