The government’s reform efforts will be undermined if the military crowds out Egypt’s private sector from the economy, resulting in “little gain for all this pain,” Timothy Kaldas writes in an opinion piece for Bloomberg. Kaldas points out that allowing for greater private sector activity has benefits that extend beyond increasing investment and creating jobs: Private sector firms are subject to higher tax rates, and would therefore improve the government’s fiscal position. Military companies are also more deregulated, a subject discussed by Lamees El Hadidi earlier this month when President Abdel Fattah El Sisi announced that some of them may go public in the future.

Other stories turning heads in the international press:

• HRW on dissident arrests: Human Rights Watch issued a report yesterday claiming that Egyptian authorities have arrested family members of exiled dissidents. The Associated Press also took note of the report.
• [Redacted] harassment campaigns: Fair Observer recaps the various anti-[redacted] harassment campaigns and initiatives in Egypt, including HarassMap and I Saw Harassment.
• Sharm gets props for diving scene: UK’s Dive Magazine has named Aquarius Diving Club in Sharm El Sheikh as the second best diving center in the world in its annual reader-nominated travel awards.