Political Risk:

Critical

Score:

11/100

Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency

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Q1 0/100

Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?

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Formal rights Score: 0 / 100
According to sources, the Parliament has the legal power to practice oversight on all laws, and public decision making in all sectors, including the…
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Effectiveness Score: 0 / 100
According to sources, there has not been any debate about defence policies in the last five years. Although there are standard mechanisms granted by…
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Independent legislature scrutiny Score: 0 / 100
According to sources, the military and the executive (president) have been attempting to undermine scrutiny or questions on the financial and political assets and…
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Q2 13/100

Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?

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Formal rights Score: 25 / 100
According to our sources, there is a committee (DNSC) within the Parliament that has a mandate to oversight and scrutinize the defence and security…
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Expertise Score: 50 / 100
According to our sources, the committee has expertise in defence and military affairs. They are mostly former members of the army (1), (2), (3).…
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Responsive policymaking Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, the committee has failed to review reports, data, and policy in the last five years. The committee’s work is symbolic…
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Short-term oversight Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, the committee has no oversight over the defence policy. The meetings of the committee are restricted and have never been…
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Long-term oversight Score: 0 / 100
As the information in the previous sub-sections shows, and according to our sources, there are no investigations by any commissions or committees with regards…
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Institutional outcomes Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, there are no known reports with recommendations from any committee or commission that the government can then incorporate into practice…
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Q3 0/100

Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?

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Scope of involvement Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, there is no debate within the executive with a focus on defence policy. Any security or defence operation/strategy is not…
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Scope of debate Score: 0 / 100
According to sources, there is very limited debate from journalists and academics about defence strategic operations (such as the one in Sinai)(1). However, most…
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Public consultations Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, there has not been any kind of public consultation with regards to the defence sector in the last five years…
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Transparency Score: 0 / 100
It is prohibited by law to publish documents on defence policy or security strategy. Law no. 14 (1967) prohibits the publishing or broadcasting of…
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Q4 0/100

Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?

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Policy of openness Score: 0 / 100
There is no official or unofficial policy requiring that the defence sector to be open towards CSOs. On the contrary, the military establishment is…
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CSO protections Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, although Egypt has many NGOs, many operate under a very restrictive and sensitive, military rule, there is no cooperation or…
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Practice of openness Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, there is not an open policy towards CSOs. The military receives many requests by NGOs for cooperation and debate, but…
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Q5 50/100

Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?

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Signatory and Ratification status Score: 100 / 100
Egypt is not among the 56 arms exporters listed by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (1), and therefore cannot be considered a significant…
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Compliance Score: 0 / 100
Egypt has failed to achieve to meet many of the improvements that the UNCAC requires, despite passing some anti-corruption laws (1), (2), (3). At…
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Q6 13/100

Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?

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Public debate Score: 0 / 100
There is no public debate on issues related to the defence sector. When they rarely take place occur, they are debated by supporters of…
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Government engagement in public discourse Score: 25 / 100
There is only one-way debate or communication from the army to the public. Furthermore, many assert that the army instructs media outlets to send…
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Q7 0/100

Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?

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Anti-corruption policy Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, there are no anti-corruption policies that apply to the defence sector. There are no institutions that have the authority to…
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Effective implementation Score: NA / 100
This indicator has been marked Not Applicable because Egypt has no anti-corruption strategy that tackles the defence sector (1) (2) (3).
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Q8 17/100

Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?

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Mandate and resources Score: 50 / 100
There is a specialized unit (general inspector of the army) and another directorate (Morale affairs) that cooperate in most cases (1), (2), (3), (4).…
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Independence Score: 0 / 100
The head of the Inspection Authority is directly appointed by the minister of defence who has financial and political authority over these units (1),…
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Effectiveness Score: 0 / 100
The general inspector of the army and the moral affairs unit have no authority over corruption cases. They are aware of corruption cases, but…
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Q9 NS/100

Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?

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Score: NS / 100
This is indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The recent episode and defection of one the military contractors (Mohamed Ali) (1)…
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Q10 0/100

Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?

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Risk assessments Score: 0 / 100
After surveying the Constitution, the anti-corruption strategy, all defence-related laws and media platforms, no evidence has been found to suggest that defence-specific assessments of…
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Regularity Score: NA / 100
As our sources indicated there are no risk assessments, this sub-indicator has been scored Not Applicable (1), (2), (3).
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Inputs to anti-corruption policy Score: NA / 100
As our sources indicated there are no risk assessments, this sub-indicator has been scored Not Applicable (1), (2), (3).
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Defence Budgets

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Q11 8/100

Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?

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Acquisition planning process Score: 25 / 100
According to our sources, there is acquisition planning in place, but it is not clear, and it has no defined processes or procedures. Furthermore,…
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Transparency Score: 0 / 100
Law No. 14 (1967) prohibits the publishing or broadcasting of any information or news about the armed forces and its formations, movement, armaments and…
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External oversight Score: 0 / 100
As explained in 11A, it is unclear whether there is a clear and defined acquisition planning process to determine whether it is subject to…
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Q12 25/100

Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?

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Comprehensiveness Score: 25 / 100
The defence budget (1) is one of the most secretive items in the Egyptian state. Only a topline figure is provided in the national…
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Timeliness Score: 25 / 100
According to our sources, the Parliament receives inaccurate, or very limited information about the defence budget. There has been no incident where the Parliament…
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Q13 0/100

Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?

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Formal rights Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, no committee within the Parliament has the power to oversee and scrutinize the budget of the defence sector. Although there…
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Influence on decision-making Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because, according to our sources, the defence committee has no power over the defence budget they do…
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Q14 0/100

Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?

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Proactive publication Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, the approved defence budget is not published by the government. They affirmed that even the published one item figure of…
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Comprehensiveness Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, although the topline budget is published, there are no details and all areas in the defence section are absent and…
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Response to information requests Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, it is almost impossible to obtain any information about the military budget of the armed forces. There have been attempts…
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Q15 0/100

Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?

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Transparency Score: 0 / 100
The military earns a huge income from economic activities, its budget and sources of income are a mystery and no real and accurate data…
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Institutional scrutiny Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, despite that the military has a huge industry and income from economic activities, its budget and sources of income are…
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Public scrutiny Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, there is no public scrutiny over non-central government sources of income despite many efforts to raise questions about the role…
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Q16 6/100

Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?

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Activity Score: 25 / 100
The Financial Authority of the Armed Forces is formally entrusted with auditing the defence ministry expenditure, but there is very little information or evidence…
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Enabling oversight Score: 0 / 100
Having reviewed relevant legal and non-legal sources and consulted relevant experts, there is no evidence that oversight bodies, namely the parliamentary committee, are provided…
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External scrutiny Score: 0 / 100
The two bodies that might have some formal oversight powers over the military are the Parliament and the CAA. This Parliament has very limited…
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Institutional outcomes Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, there are no auditing reports to view. Therefore, there are no recommendations, and that is why the MoD cannot address…
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Q17 0/100

Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?

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Activity Score: 0 / 100
There is no external scrutiny of the MoD or the armed forces. The CAA theoretically has the power to commit oversight and scrutinize the…
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Independence Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because, despite the possible existence of some unclear formal powers, the CAA has no real powers to…
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Transparency Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because, despite the possible existence of some unclear formal powers, the CAA has no real powers to…
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Institutional outcomes Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because, despite the possible existence of some unclear formal powers, the CAA has no real powers to…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets

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Q18 30/100

Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?

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Legal framework Score: 0 / 100
Our sources have confirmed that the army has an extraordinary monopoly over many of the country’s economic and natural resources. From land, oil, to…
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Defence institutions: Financial or controlling interests in practice Score: 25 / 100
The involvement of the armed forces in business activities related to natural resource exploitation, namely land, is pervasive but usually happens legally from laws…
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Individual defence personnel: Financial or controlling interests in practice Score: 100 / 100
The armed forces as an institution is highly involved in businesses related to natural resource exploitation, there is no evidence, however that defence personnel…
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Transparency Score: 25 / 100
According to our sources, the economic interests of the army and its personnel in the natural resources of the country are not usually declared…
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Scrutiny Score: 0 / 100
The interests of the military in the economy and natural resources of the country are not subject to any mechanisms of scrutiny or oversight.…
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Organised Crime

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Q19 50/100

Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?

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Penetration of organised crime Score: 50 / 100
There is a moderate likelihood that a group of armed forces could organize criminal groups easily. There is widespread corruption within the armed forces,…
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Government response Score: 50 / 100
According to our sources, the government is aware of organized crime in the armed forces, they try to investigate these issues. However, there are…
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Q20 25/100

Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?

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Existence of policing function Score: 50 / 100
There is a unit within the MoD designated, the Military Police, which is responsible for dealing with corruption cases and crimes within the armed…
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Independence Score: 25 / 100
The Military Police reports to the MoD and the executive. The independence of both the Military Police, the military judicial system, and courts is…
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Effectiveness Score: 0 / 100
There is no extra military authority that is entrusted or has the power to investigate or prosecute cases of corruption in the defence sector…
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Control of Intelligence Services

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Q21 0/100

Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?

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Independence Score: 0 / 100
There is no independent oversight or policies that scrutinize the budget of the two intelligence agencies in Egypt. Both of them are linked directly…
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Effectiveness Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because, as explained above in 21A, there is no independent oversight of the intelligence service’s policies and…
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Q22 8/100

Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?

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Objective selection criteria Score: 25 / 100
According to our sources, the selection procedures and criteria of senior intelligence officers are not only unclear, but it is also known to be…
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Selection bias Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, senior positions of the intelligence are most gifts for loyalists. The president as the head of the state distributes these…
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Vetting process Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, the appointments decrees are based on suggestions from the closed inner circle of the president, and there is no vetting…
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Export Controls

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Q23 0/100

Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?

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Signatory and Ratification Score: 0 / 100
Egypt has neither ratified nor signed the ATT (1).
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Compliance Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because Egypt has neither ratified nor signed the ATT (1).
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Parliamentary scrutiny Score: 0 / 100
According to our sources, Egypt has no mechanism of scrutiny over arms exports. The Egyptian military industry is immune from scrutiny. The Arab Organization…
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Lobbying in Defence

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Q76 0/100

Does the country regulate lobbying of defence institutions?

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Legal framework Score: 0 / 100
This sub-indicator has been marked Not Applicable because, after reviewing the Constitution, all the relevant laws, by-laws strategies and media platforms, there is no…
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Disclosure: Public officials Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator was marked Not Applicable because no legislation regulates lobbying. However, for conflict of interest, Article 16 of Law no. 106 (2013) states…
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Lobbyist registration system Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator was marked Not Applicable because the country has no legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector (1), (2), (3), (4).
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Oversight & enforcement Score: NA / 100
This sub-indicator was marked Not Applicable because the country has no legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector (1), (2), (3), (4).
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