Egypt will switch to daylight saving time (DST) on 28 April, years after having cancelled the seasonal shift in the clock.
“Summer timing” as it is known in Egypt, was restored by a 1 March cabinet decision. Clocks will jump forward one hour at midnight at the beginning of summer and return back an hour with the advent of winter in October.
Nader Saad, the cabinet’s spokesman, said the decision was part of Egypt’s efforts to rationalise energy consumption. DST saves 10 per cent of total energy and electricity consumption, Saad said, pointing out that around 40 per cent of the world uses DST to save energy. He said the move would enable savings in gas used to operate power plants which, he added, could then be exported to bring in much needed hard currency.
But not all agreed with the change. “Why did they bring it back,” asked Abdallah Mohamed who said he hated DST. Businessman Momtaz Radwan said moving the clock forwards and backwards was very confusing.
But Noha Adel, a computer engineer who stays late at the office, is happy. “Without daylight it is always dark when I leave the office. It feels good to find the day is young when I go home.”
Daylight saving time is not new to Egypt. It has been applied, then cancelled, several times since 1945. In modern-day Egypt it has been the norm since 1988 but was scratched during the month of Ramadan.
In 2011 a decree was issued to end “summer time” but it was restored in mid-May 2014 for one year due to an energy crisis Egypt was experiencing. It was last cancelled in 2015.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 9 March, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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