There was no statement to the press nor any official public signing ceremony. At the request of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a major weapons sale by France to Egypt, which was inked on April 26th, was to remain secret.

According to information obtained by Disclose, the deal agreed between Paris and Cairo concerns three contracts. One is for the purchase from Dassault Aviation of 30 Rafale fighter jets for a total of 3.75 billion euros. The two other contracts, together worth 200 million euros, were with the France-based missile manufacturing consortium MBDA and avionics firm Safran Electronics & Defense, bringing the total of the deal signed last month to 3.95 billion euros. 

A loan guaranteed by the French state

One week after the contracts were signed, and which follow on the sale by France to Egypt in 2015 of 24 Rafale fighters, the sale has entered its final stage. A delegation of Egyptian officials is due arrive in Paris within hours before a meeting at the French economy ministry on May 4th to agree the financial terms of the contract.  

According to a document which is headed by the stamp of the French economy ministry and the Egyptian defence ministry, and which Disclose has seen, the deal will be principally paid by credit. Although heavily indebted, the Egyptian state has obtained a loan of which 85% is to be guaranteed by France. The French treasury is to stand surety on the amount, in loans taken out with French banks Crédit Agricole, Société Générale, BNP and CIC.

That means that if Egypt defaults on repayment of the loan, the French taxpayer will face reimbursing the sum of 3.4 billion euros, plus eventual interest. In the Rafale deal agreed with Egypt in 2015, the French state guaranteed 60% of the loan taken out by Cairo to meet the cost of the contract. Contacted by Disclose, both the French presidential office and that of the prime minister declined to comment.

Charm offensive

Five months ago, French President Emmanuel Macron rolled out the red carpet for Sisi during a state visit to Paris by the Egyptian dictator on December 7th and 8th, including a grand ceremony at the Hôtel des Invalides monument and a state dinner at the Élysée Palace, when he was also awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour.

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Despite outcry by rights activists, Macron showed no hesitation in reserving a lavish welcome for his Egyptian counterpart who is accused of the arbitrary detentions of several tens of thousands of people, including NGO officials and journalists. “I will not condition our cooperation in defence matters, as in economic matters, to these disagreements [over human rights], firstly because I believe in the sovereignty of peoples,” declared the French president at a joint press conference in Paris with Sisi on December 7th, adding that a “boycott” policy “would be ineffective on the subject of human rights and counter-productive in the fight against terrorism”.

The support Macron leant to the Egyptian regime immediately proved fruitful. Dassault Aviation CEO Éric Trappier was welcomed at Sisi’s Paris residence, and one month later French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian travelled to Cairo.  

The signing of this second vast weapons deal with Egypt comes just as French Members of Parliament (MPs) are studying propositions by their colleagues Jacques Maire (from Macron’s ruling LREM party) and Michelle Tabarot (from the conservative Les Républicains party) to establish tighter parliamentary control on arms exports. The two MPs, who have focussed on dealings with Egypt, which they described as one of “our major clients”, are calling for the creation of a parliamentary commission tasked with examining the nature of the weapons sales and the profile of those receiving the arms. However, the secrecy surrounding these new contracts with Egypt is revealing of the French government’s opposition to the suggestion it should be called to account over such deals.

Disclose (traduction: Graham Tearse)