Cairo
The queue is full in front of the small booth recently installed in a busy square in Cairo's Shobra district. Women on one side, men on the other, dozens of Egyptians crowd to fill up on sugar. "It's like this every day, from opening at 10 a.m. to closing time around 17 p.m.," the shopkeeper observes without taking his eyes off his customers. Here, a kilo is traded at 27 pounds, about 80 euro cents, almost half as much as in traditional supermarkets. A windfall made possible by a large refining company and sponsored by the powers that be, as evidenced by the imposing portrait of the president and candidate for re-election, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, which dominates the temporary point of sale.
Three streets away, on the shelves of a subsidized supermarket, there is a shortage. "The sugar should arrive next week, I came for the oil and rice," says one mother.
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