Taking center stage on the airwaves last night: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s visit to Upper Egypt, which kicked off with the inauguration of the Assiut Oil Refining Company. Of particular interest to the talking heads: the EGP 1.1 tn-worth of investments that have been poured into the development of infrastructure and services in Upper Egypt over the past seven years. Footage from the event was aired by Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 48:49), Al Hayah Al Youm’s Mohamed Sherdy (watch, runtime: 6:53), and Masaa DMC’s Ramy Radwan (watch, runtime: 6:27).

There’s more where that came from: El Sisi inaugurated a handful of other development projects yesterday, including water treatment plants in Beni Suef, Qena and Minya and hospitals in Assiut, Minya, Sohag and Luxor, and is expected to cut the proverbial ribbon at several other projects over the coming week, Yahduth Fi Masr’s Sherif Amer noted (watch, runtime: 2:25).

Meanwhile, the burden of a ballooning population on the country’s growth was the focal point of Finance Minister Mohamed Maait’s phone-in to Masaa DMC, in which he explained to host Ramy Radwan the far-reaching effects of failing to get population growth under control. To maintain the current quality of life, economists suggest that economic growth rates need to be double the annual population growth rate, Maait said. Egypt’s population grows around 2% every year, meaning the current fiscal year’s 5.6% growth target is barely enough for the state to continue providing the necessary services to its citizens, the minister said (watch, runtime: 26:05).