Egypt’s Mobile Line Scandal: Before You Ask for My Face, Explain How You Got My ID Leaked

We are now in the last week of September, and the facial biometric measures have still not been officially rolled out for new and existing mobile phone lines, as announced by Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA).

It is a big step towards digitalisation. It will be an optional step, but I am not taking it any time soon — and I won’t be alone in that hesitation.

Last month, many Egyptians, including yours truly, discovered that we had additional mobile phone lines and mobile money wallets registered under our National IDs without our knowledge through Egypt’s four mobile phone networks.

Yes, you read that correctly.

On 7 August 2026, I discovered through the NTRA’s application, My NTRA, that another mobile phone line — aka a SIM card — was registered to my National ID number on Orange Egypt without my knowledge.

The My NTRA app is available for free on both the iOS App Store and Google Play Store.

I have been a very long-term Orange Egypt customer, going back to when it was still Mobinil, and I had never received any notification that I had this mobile phone number.

I had never received any bills for it, and it had never appeared in the “My Orange” app.

I did once have an internet line from Orange Egypt a long time ago, but it was suspended for inactivity. It was not the same number.

Orange Egypt handles data lines under the same NTRA rules that apply across all Egyptian operators. Since data lines are prepaid, if a line remains unused for 90 days — with no calls, SMS messages or data activity — the operator suspends its service.

Before that happens, however, the operator is required to warn the customer twice: once 10 days before the cutoff and again 48 hours before.

Once the line is suspended, there is still a 15-day grace period to save it, simply by using or recharging it, provided that the customer’s details match those held by Orange.

Only after that 15-day window passes without any action does Orange cancel the contract and release the number back into its pool, where it can be resold to a new customer. At that point, it is gone for good.

That is exactly what happened to the data lines — aka MiFi lines — from TeData, later WE/Telecom Egypt, that I bought over the years to keep working during power outages.

None of those lines appeared to be linked to my National ID anymore.

The mysterious mobile phone line, however, was there — although I could not even see the full number. Only a few digits were displayed. And please do not ask me why.

I was lucky that I found no other mobile money wallet registered under my National ID apart from the one I actually own, which is linked to my bank account rather than directly to my mobile phone line, unlike services such as Orange Cash.

I was even luckier than many other people who discovered three, six, or even 20 mobile phone lines connected to their National IDs.

Even renowned public figures were affected.

Days at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo: From Heh to eternity “ Happy Egyptian New Year 6268, Happy Coptic New Year 1742”

Happy Egyptian New Year 6268, Happy Nayrouz, Happy Coptic New Year 1742!

Today is the day ancient Egyptians celebrated the beginning of their new year.

11 September marks "1 Tut," the first day of Ancient Egyptian Year 6268, according to the ancient Egyptian calendar. It is also the first day of Coptic Year 1742 AM.

As I do every year, I'll repeat the reminder that the Ancient Egyptian/Coptic New Year begins on 1 Tut, which usually falls on 11 or 12 September in the Gregorian calendar.

The ancient Egyptian calendar is still used in Egypt today to mark the agricultural seasons, and despite the millennia and the climatic changes since, it remains the best calendar for describing our climate.

The Coptic calendar determines the dates of religious feasts, particularly in the Coptic Orthodox Church.

The Ancient Egyptian year begins with the month of Tut, named after Thoth (Djehuty), the ancient Egyptian deity of wisdom, writing, calculation, astronomy, and timekeeping.

But this year, it won't be about Tut — because what better day to talk about Heh than the first day of an Egyptian year?

Much less familiar, yet his influence was invoked, directly or indirectly, by the mightiest kings of ancient Egypt from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom: Heh, the ancient Egyptian deity and personification of infinity and eternity.

Heh had a female counterpart, Hauhet.

Together they personified infinity and boundlessness — the endless expanse within which creation could take place.

Heh — also written as Ḥeḥ and sometimes rendered as Hehu — was one of the eight ancient deities of the Ogdoad, the group of deities worshipped at Hermopolis, or Khemenu, near modern-day Mallawi in El-Minya Governorate.

Kodak Agfa presents: Al-Sayeda Zainab’s Moulid Al-Nabi Bazaar 2026 in Photos and Video

It is one of those times of the year.

Here we are celebrating the anniversary of Prophet Mohamed (PBUH).

Moulid El-Nabi, which commemorates the birth of Prophet Muhammad, is observed annually on 12 Rabi Al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic lunar calendar.

This year, it falls on Tuesday, 25 August, in the Gregorian calendar.

Nevertheless, Thursday, August 27, will be an official paid public holiday in Egypt to mark Moulid El-Nabi, Prophet Muhammad's birthday, according to a buzzkill decree by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

The date has been shifted to Thursday in line with the government's practice of moving weekday public holidays to the end of the working week.

Anyhow, once again, Kodak Agfa pays a quick visit to Al-Sayida Zeinab's Moulid Al-Nabi annual bazaar.

Before you say, "oh no, not again" or "you can go to a different place," believe me, there is always something new and cheerful there.

This is the first time I have seen these light decorations hung in Cairo, if not all of Egypt. 

The lion and the palm tree light decorations are here

I can't remember seeing them before.

Interestingly, the lion symbolizes Imam Ali in Shia Islamic iconography.

First time seeing this LED light decoration with its unique design

I'm wondering if we got this from Iraq, or if it's imported from China without anyone knowing the meaning behind it.

Other than that, it's the usual simple lighting at the makeshift bazaar stands, alongside the authentic Egyptian khayamiya red-and-blue fabrics.

An apology for the newsletter glitch

Dear Egyptian Chronicles subscribers,

First of all, thank you so much for your trust and support in subscribing to my newsletter. It is truly an honour that you have shared your email address with me so you don't miss my latest posts.

Second, I sincerely apologize for the empty newsletter emails you have been receiving since June. It turned out there was a technical glitch during my setup process when migrating from Mailchimp to Brevo.

Thankfully, I have now fixed the issue! I hope you will enjoy receiving Egyptian Chronicles updates in your inbox once again, inshallah.

Warm regards,

Yours truly,

Zeinobia

Why Doesn't Egypt — or an Egyptian Billionaire — Buy Pharos's Assets?

On Friday, Israel's Ratio Petroleum Energy announced that it had raised its offer to acquire Pharos Energy — which owns assets in Egypt and Vietnam — to around £146.4 million ($196.97 million), outbidding rival oil producer Serica Energy and thereby regaining the board's recommendation in favour of its offer.

So, what are Pharos Energy's assets in Egypt?

British company Pharos Energy holds a 45% stake in two oil and gas concessions in Egypt's Western Desert. The company originally held a much larger share — full 100% ownership. Still, in 2022 it farmed out 55% of its stake, along with operatorship, to a company called IPR Lake Qarun Petroleum, a subsidiary of multi-national Swiss-registered IPR Energy AG.

The first concession is El Fayum. Pharos Energy — then still operating as SOCO International — entered Egypt in 2019, when it completed its acquisition of Merlon Petroleum El Fayum for approximately $215 million, paid through roughly $136 million in cash and the issuance of new SOCO shares.

El Fayum is an active production asset located roughly 80 km southwest of Cairo, containing around 11 producing oil fields spread across a development area of approximately 256 square kilometres.

The second is North Beni Suef. Originally an exploration licence, it's now in active production following a commercial discovery.

These are your subjects, Your Majesty: Morocco edition

On 31 July, hundreds of middle-aged and elderly Moroccan men stood in the old palace in the city of Tetouan from early morning, waiting to pledge allegiance to their country’s king on the anniversary of his accession to the throne.

Delegates wearing their finest traditional kaftans represented all 75 provinces and prefectures across Morocco’s 12 regions.

They gathered at Mechouar Square outside the Royal Palace in Tetouan to re-declare their allegiance to their sovereign, King Mohammed VI, marking the 27th anniversary of His Majesty’s accession to the throne, known as Throne Day.

King Mohammed VI stood in an old convertible car that moved slowly past the delegates, his subjects in Tetouan, in a live event that most Moroccan television channels aired.

At almost the exact same moment, many non-Moroccan television channels were broadcasting something very different: tens of thousands of Moroccan people — also subjects of King Mohammed VI, and mainly young people — were storming the Moroccan-Spanish border around Ceuta in an attempt to reach Europe.

And they were not all young people. There were children, some reportedly only days old, among those who crossed by sea and through the hills.

The storming of the border had begun 24 hours earlier; Morocco was celebrating Throne Day that same day.

Morocco’s Throne Day was created in 1933 by Moroccan nationalists rallying around Sultan then-Mohammed V during the French protectorate and became an official national celebration through a ministerial decree the following year. It is a public holiday in Morocco.

Some have argued that Morocco was sending a message to Spain not to cooperate with Algeria following Sánchez’s visit to the rival neighbour.

But Morocco knows better than anyone that no country is going to cut its relations with Algeria simply because Rabat wants it to.

2026 World Cup: Egypt made real Mondial history, and we have every right to celebrate it

"He had once fallen under the spell of a dream, and from that moment on, the memory of that beautiful transgression would pursue him forever—a moment of freedom, of a lightness too exquisite to endure. It would remain, forever haunting him, like conscience itself."
— Arwa Saleh, The Stillborn

I doubt that when leftist activist and writer Arwa Saleh wrote these lines, she imagined she was describing how millions of Egyptians would feel for three unforgettable weeks — or perhaps for the past four decades, if not throughout much of modern Egyptian history.

Little Egyptian boy wearing Salah's jersey
watching a game between older kids on the banks
of the Nile in Upper Egypt's Al-Minya
"Ahmed Mostafa" 

Egypt's 2026 World Cup campaign was that beautiful dream, and Egyptians could not help but fall under its spell.

Egypt was eliminated in the Round of 16 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after an epic, deeply controversial match against Argentina. The rest is history.

Eleven days later, I can finally finish this post, which I began writing on 8 July 2026.

Since then, Argentina has defeated Switzerland in another match that raised eyebrows and renewed questions about refereeing decisions, advancing to the semi-finals. It then overcame England in the showdown many football fans had been waiting years to see.

No one could have imagined that so many Egyptians would find themselves supporting England against Argentina.

Yet the impossible happened. 

England, too, experienced the same bitter final minutes, marked by controversial refereeing decisions and an unusually physical game. 

I cannot imagine how Egyptian and English fans who witnessed both matches felt as they watched history seemingly repeat itself.

It was painful to watch because — bias aside — Egypt played better against Argentina than either team did. That only deepened the inevitable question: What if?

In a few hours, Argentina will face Spain in the World Cup final and will most likely lift the trophy.

It has been a week filled with reactions, endless "what ifs," and the familiar chorus of "Stop being dramatic, you filthy Egyptian sore losers."

But we are not sore losers.