Cairo’s nightlife fades as early closing orders take effect

Visitors ride on a horse carriage before the closing of shops in downtown Cairo. Egypt has ordered shops, restaurants and shopping malls to close from 9pm from April 3, hoping to curb energy bills that have more than doubled because of the Iran war. At a roadside cafe in downtown Cairo, Abu Ali was mid-domino throw when the lights snapped off under new early-closing orders enacted to curb Egypt’s soaring energy bill due to the US-Israel war on Iran.

“I used to stay here until 2am,” the 63-year-old said, tapping his tiles as the street went dark. This is not the Cairo we know.” The month-long order instituted last week shutters shops at 9pm on weekdays and 10pm on weekends, with a brief extension to 11pm expected for the Coptic Easter holidays. Thursday nights usually buzz with families strolling between storefronts, teenagers lingering over ice cream and music spilling out of cafes, well into the early hours of the morning.

Now each evening collapses into a final frantic hour of last-minute shopping before fluorescent lights flicker out and shutters rattle down. Police patrols ensure compliance and soon only delivery scooters remain, zig-zagging through the dark. “This is usually when work starts,” shopworker Ali Haggag said, standing outside his suddenly quiet clothing store.

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The city once famed for never sleeping now “feels like Covid again”, he added, recalling the 2020 lockdowns that emptied its streets. Well-to-do Cairenes have flocked to Nileside restaurants and international hotels, exempt from the order as tourism establishments.

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