It’s 8.50pm on a Saturday evening, and Egyptian restaurant Zööba in Cairo’s Zamalek district is packed. A gaggle of Canadian vacationers arrives asking for a desk for 5. “Sorry, takeaway only,” the cashier tells them. As the group weigh their choices, an Italian couple walks in. “Sorry, takeaway only,” comes the reply once more. The newcomers look confused – particularly since Google lists the restaurant’s closing time as midnight.
These vacationers, like so many others, are unaware that in late March, the Egyptian Prime Minister ordered most outlets, eating places, cafes, nightclubs and bazaars to shut from 9pm, amid energy shocks triggered by the US-Israel-Iran conflict and disruptions alongside the Strait of Hormuz, which have tightened provide and pushed up oil and fuel costs. As a web power importer, Egypt is grappling with rising fuel costs, a weaker forex and mounting inflation.
The “lights out” ruling is at the moment because of final for one month, till 28 April. On Thursdays and Fridays, closing time is prolonged to 10pm, and exceptions apply on public holidays and official events, together with the upcoming Coptic Easter vacation interval (10-13 April), when industrial venues can stay open till 11pm.
Still, it is fairly a change for a metropolis often alive with mild, noise and late-night crowds. “When we drove into Cairo late, I remember thinking, ‘Everything is really dark’,” says Stephanie Jung, one of the Canadian tourists now waiting for their takeaway outside Zööba’s trademark bright blue door. “It was weird.”
The group, in their 30s and 40s, had been knowledgeable in regards to the new 9pm rule on check-in at their Airbnb. But they’d underestimated Saturday night site visitors from Khan El Khalili bazaar, and reached Zamalek later than anticipated.