Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi says he will step down when his term expires in 2030, describing the question of his future as settled and promising that the constitution will not be amended to keep him in power. The 71-year-old former army general made the pledge on Saturday at a graduation ceremony of the Egyptian Military Academy in the New Administrative Capital, the city he has built east of Cairo as the centrepiece of his development agenda. His remarks follow years of speculation among critics and opposition figures that a fresh round of amendments could stretch a rule that began in 2014.
“The period leading up to 2030 will be the end of my term as president of the state, if I am still alive,” Sisi told graduates and state officials. “This is completely settled and there will be no discussion about it.” He said the constitution “would not be touched”, and that the years before 2030 would be used to groom a new generation of leaders. According to the President, the Military Academy is training hundreds of prospective officials, ministers and presidential candidates in statecraft and leadership.
The pledge draws attention because the rules have shifted once before. The 2014 constitution, adopted after the military removed President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, limited presidents to two four-year terms. Sisi won the 2014 election with about 97 per cent of the vote and was re-elected in 2018 with a similar margin, which under the original text would have ended his tenure in 2022. A 2019 referendum, backed by about 88.8 per cent of voters, then lengthened presidential terms to six years, extended his second term to 2024 and allowed him to run once more.
Sisi used that opening in December 2023, winning about 89.6 per cent of the vote. His current six-year term began in April 2024 and runs until 2030. Under the amended constitution it is his last, so remaining in office beyond 2030 would require another constitutional change. Before entering politics, Sisi had denied having presidential ambitions, only to resign as defence minister in 2014 and contest the election he went on to win.
The economic record he will hand over is dominated by debt. Central Bank of Egypt data show the country’s external debt stood at $164.8 billion at the end of March 2026, compared with about $46 billion when he took office in 2014, an increase of more than three and a half times. The bank’s figures also show some easing in the burden. External debt fell to 38.9 per cent of gross domestic product from 44.2 per cent in June 2025, while external debt service dropped to $28.3 billion in the first nine months of the 2025/2026 fiscal year, down from $30.1 billion a year earlier.
Critics link much of that borrowing to Sisi’s state-led megaprojects, including the New Administrative Capital itself, and argue they have added to Egypt’s economic strain. The government maintains that the investment was needed to modernise infrastructure and accommodate a fast-growing population. The economy was steadied in 2024 by an $8 billion International Monetary Fund programme agreed in March and a $35 billion Ras El Hekma development deal with Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund, ADQ. Central bank data show net foreign direct investment inflows of $13 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, against $9.8 billion a year earlier, while net international reserves reached a record $56.29 billion at the end of July.
Households have felt the adjustment most through prices. Annual urban inflation peaked at about 38 per cent in September 2023 before easing. Figures from the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics show urban inflation at 13.9 per cent in September 2026, down from 14.5 per cent in August, while nationwide inflation edged up to 12.8 per cent. Housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel costs rose 29.6 per cent year on year, the steepest increase among major categories.
The Central Bank of Egypt, which held its overnight deposit rate at 19 per cent on September 24, expects inflation to fall gradually towards its target of 7 per cent, plus or minus two points, in the second half of 2027. That timeline places the expected return to single-digit inflation within the final stretch of Sisi’s term.
His presidency has also drawn sustained criticism from international human rights organisations, which accuse the authorities of restricting political opposition, civil society and freedom of expression. The government rejects those allegations, insisting its policies are necessary to protect stability and security in a volatile region.
Sisi did not name a preferred successor on Saturday. Egypt’s next presidential election is due before his term ends in 2030, and his remarks are the clearest public statement yet that he will not be on the ballot.