The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Featured image courtesy of Halan via thenational.ae

A real Cairo dweller needs no introduction to tuk-tuks, which can be seen dashing through nearly every street in the city. It all started as a cheap means of urban transportation in the alleyways and small streets of Egypt until it expanded into wider territories.

Egypt is not the only host of these auto-rickshaws; they are mostly used in Asian countries such as Thailand and India, which happens to be the largest manufacturer of the vehicles, according to Amwal Al Ghad. According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics in 2018, more than 3 million unlicensed rickshaws exist in Egypt.

Egypt Today stated that the Egyptian government, chaired by Moustafa Madbouli, ordered local tuk-tuk assembling factories to stop producing auto-rickshaws. The Prime Minister delegated the project to the Ministry of Finance, Mohamed Maait, and representatives from the General Traffic Authority, according to Ahram Online.

However, this is not a sad ending for the owners of these vehicles. The government will buy these auto-rickshaws from their owners and give them minivans in return to provide a licensed, and safe means of transportation. Meanwhile, the owners will pay the price difference of two vehicles in soft loans.

Hopefully, this initiative will be the first step for a better tomorrow.