As of 1 July shops are set to close earlier than usual, a decision prompted by the need to rationalise electricity consumption following power outages that have gripped the country over the past year.

With the advent of summer and increased electricity usage, the outages have become more frequent — and more irritating.

According to the Supreme Committee for Licensing Stores, headed by Minister of Local Development Hisham Amna, until 26 September this year, shops will be required to close at 10pm on weekdays and will stay up an extra hour on weekends. Malls should close at 12 midnight on weekdays with hours extended until 1am on weekends. The latter also applies to restaurants and cafés with deliveries available around the clock. Shops such as repair workshops should close at 7pm except for those offering emergency services.

Grocery stores, supermarkets,pharmacies,  bakeries and wholesale markets are excluded from the decision.

According to a press release by the ministry, Amna said the decision is in line with the directives of Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli to take the necessary measures to rationalise electricity to reduce the volume of imported petroleum products considering the rise in temperatures as well as the unprecedented increase in electricity consumption.

Reaction to the new closing hours is mixed.

Nevine Abu Taleb, a teacher and mother of three, rejected the change outright, explaining that morning shopping was not convenient because of the extreme heat in the summer. To herself and many Egyptians, she said, shopping was only possible after sunset which does not leave them much time if shops close at 10pm.

Abu Taleb added that Cairo is known for the beauty of its nights and staying up late on its streets, and that shopping at night is considered hanging out in Egypt. She said closing stores at 10 will lead people to stay up late at home, thus increasing electricity consumption.

She also questioned how store owners can meet their financial obligations, be it workers’ salaries or taxes, with such short opening hours. She said it does not matter that stores are allowed to open early. “Who would wake up early to go shopping anyway?” Abu Taleb asked.

But Sawsan Al-Sayed, a pensioner, backed the early-hour closures. “Egypt is witnessing extraordinary circumstances and, therefore, we must adapt to the difficult situation, as we did after the war in 1973,” Al-Sayed said, referring to Egypt’s war with Israel, adding that citizens must cooperate.

Meanwhile Rabie Al-Shimi, owner of Al-Borsa Al-Wataniya coffee shop in Alexandria, said there should be an exception made for coastal cities that are frequented by summer vacationers. He said during the summer they see demand they do not get the rest of the year.

MP Samira Al-Gazzar agrees. She pointed out that people have started going to summer resorts to escape the heat, which will increase after the end of the Thanaweya Amma (12th grade high school) exams towards the end of July. Al-Gazzar said shops in coastal cities must be exempted. She said she will accordingly file a request to the minister of local development to treat coastal cities differently.

Zakaria Mohamed, an accountant, wants to make sure that everyone abides by the law. Often, he said, only stores on main streets are compelled to follow the law, while those on side streets are off the grid.

“When consumers realise that all stores are adhering to the specified dates, they will adjust, but when they know that they can buy their supplies at any time from specific areas outside the control of officials, then there is no talk of rationalisation. What is more important than decisions is the way they are implemented,” Mohamed said.

The government has announced the outages will end by the third week of July. Currently the government is increasing natural gas imports at much-needed hard currency. A total $1.8 billion are needed to import natural gas and mazut to operate power plants and stop load-shedding, Madbouli said last week during a press conference to explain the blackouts which are nationwide.

Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Spokesman Hamdi Abdel-Aziz told the media this week that two shipments of natural gas have already arrived and 19 more are scheduled during the summer.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 4 July, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly