Egypt’s Suez Canal Revenue Plummets

Egypt’s Suez Canal revenue has plunged to nearly half of what it was last year, said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during a conference with oil companies on Monday.

• In January 2023, the strategic waterway passed 2,155 vessels with a generated $804 million.
• Compare that to January 2024 when 1,362 vessels passed through, yielding $428 million.

Sisi lamented that the Suez Canal “used to bring Egypt nearly $10 billion per year.” Now it “must continue to pay companies and partners” despite the decreased income.

Attacks: The decrease in revenue is caused by the continued attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea. The terrorist group claims they only attack ships with connections to Israel; however, many of the targeted ships have no links to the country. This has led many countries to divert their shipments to sail around the southern tip of Africa.

Although the whole world has been negatively affected by the Red Sea disruption, Egypt is at the greatest disadvantage. The Suez Canal provides the country with its main source of foreign currency in the midst of its severe financial crisis.

Other domestic issues: The Suez Canal has been vital in combating Egypt’s foreign currency shortage caused by decreased tourism and increased oil and wheat costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Inflation also has been a major issue, hitting a record high of 39.7 percent last August.

Future: Egypt will continue to suffer loss until normal trade through the Suez Canal can resume. Even then, Sisi faces major economic and social challenges ahead.

Through it all, you can be sure Iran has been watching Egypt’s weakening position. Will this situation pave the way for Iran to rescue Egypt in some kind of partnership? Or will it destabilize Egypt so that Islamists more friendly to Iran can come to power?

The Trumpet says: Daniel 11:40 prophesies of two end-time power blocs called “the king of the north” (German-led Europe) and “the king of the south” (radical Islamism led by Iran). In his booklet The King of the South, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes:

[Verse 42 says] Egypt will be conquered or controlled by the king of the north. This clearly implies that Egypt will be allied with the king of the south.

This prophecy indicates we are about to see a far-reaching change in Egyptian politics! We have been saying since 1994 that this would occur. Look at Egypt today, and you see the nation’s foreign policy and political orientation changing in a way that threatens to transform the entire region!