Is Sisi right to say that population growth is an obstacle to economic growth?

In the Fourth Youth Conference held in Alexandria on Monday, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi called on Egyptians not to have more than three children. He warned that the growth in Egypt’s population is a “serious challenge ahead of economic growth and countering terrorism.”

“Whenever I see a citizen having a number of children while he is not able to feed them,” said Sisi, “I tell him: pay attention! You will be questioned by God, as well as by your country regarding these children.”

The former defence minister did not blame his regime for failing to provide justice for his people, which is the basis of a decent life in any country. Instead, he blamed the people themselves and population growth for them being poor and unable to afford a prosperous life. According to Sisi, population growth is pushing Egypt to be a “begging country.”

The Central Department for Public Mobilisation and Statistics in Cairo said last week that the poverty rate in the country increased by 27.8 per cent between 1999/2000 and 2015. Recent data from the department put the population at 92.1 million, an increase of 52 million over the past 30 years.

Read: Egypt launches new population-control strategy

Is the Egyptian president right to consider popular growth as a reason for poverty and a serious challenge to fighting terror and economic growth? Professor Hiba Al-Laithi of Cairo University begs to differ. She claims that population growth is a positive thing if the country invests in the people in the right way. Speaking to Madamasr.com, Prof. Al-Laithi mentioned examples of countries with large populations that enjoy good economic growth, such as India and China.

She pointed out that these countries are following proper economic and development policies as they offer proper education and training for their citizens and utilise them as an essential part of the development process. The professor blamed the increasing poverty rate — it will hit 35 per cent soon, she claimed — on the decisions taken by the Sisi government to raise taxes and the price of basic commodities.

Turkey is an example of a positive relationship between economic and population growth. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has won national and local elections since 2002; the party founder and leader’s economic achievements were the main fuel for its electoral campaigns.

When Erdogan became the president of Turkey, he called on families to have as many children as they can. He pledged greater support for large families and recommended that Turkish couples have at least three children, insisting that “strong families lead to strong nations.”

Erdogan made this call confident in his belief that it would contribute to Turkey’s economic growth and build upon what his party has already achieved. The issue is related to reinforcing values and using the given resources properly.

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Within 15 years, the AK Party has changed Turkey from a “begging country” to one with a strong economy which was not affected by the global economic crisis which shook the United States and other major economies 10 years ago. Where once it used to borrow from the International Monetary Fund at the highest interest rates, Turkey was able to turn down a $40 million loan offer from the IMF in 2011.

In 15 years, the policies of the ruling AK Party have raised Turkey’s GDP from around $3,000 to $19,000, offered free higher education and provided up to 75 per cent of healthcare services free of charge. The party cancelled the state of emergency when it won the election in 2002, democratised the country and won the battle of wills with the army, removing officers so far away from civilian life that it was unable to press home a coup attempt last year.

Read: Balancing the poverty of the poor

President Erdogan called upon the Turks to have extra children because he has secured work opportunities for the future generations. In 2000, Turkey used to produce just 3,000 cars per year; today it makes 1.9 million. High-quality Turkish products in many sectors are found almost all over the world.

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi should learn from this. When you oust an elected president and install yourself as the ruler of your country, you will never be able to match what democratically-elected governments can achieve. Democratic rulers are brought to power by the people, and they invest government resources to serve them; they don’t remove their freedoms, put them in jail, steal their wealth and destroy their country. It’s a hard lesson, but the people of Egypt are learning fast; Sisi should too.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.