A devastating fire erupted late Monday night at the historic Ramses Central building in downtown Cairo, sending shockwaves across Egypt’s critical telecommunications and financial systems. The blaze, which broke out on July 7, left four dead and 39 injured, according to official reports.

Built in 1927 and long regarded as the backbone of Egypt’s telecom infrastructure, Ramses Central served as a key node for internet, mobile, and data connectivity across major providers like Vodafone, Orange, WE, and e&.

The fire’s immediate impact was felt across Greater Cairo, where millions struggled with dropped calls, vanished internet access, and failing broadband connections.

Monitoring group NetBlocks reported that Egypt’s national internet connectivity dropped to just 62% of normal levels during the height of the disruption.

Minister of Communications Amr Talaat announced that services would gradually return within 24 hours, adding that affected users would receive compensation. Traffic rerouting and backup systems were promptly activated.

The fallout reached Egypt’s financial sector by Tuesday morning, when the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) took the rare step of suspending trading. The suspension was attributed to a breakdown in electronic systems used to display prices and process trades.

EGX Chairman Ahmed El Sheikh stated that while no internal systems were breached, trading was halted “as a precautionary measure to preserve transparency and fairness.”

Egypt’s banking sector also faced disruption. Both the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr reported ATM and online banking service outages. In response, the Central Bank of Egypt temporarily raised the daily withdrawal limit to EGP 500,000 and extended bank hours to ease pressure on branches.

The ripple effects continued into the digital payments sector, with platforms like InstaPay experiencing outages. Many retail outlets also reported malfunctioning point-of-sale machines, disrupting daily transactions.

Despite fears of broader infrastructure failures, Cairo International Airport maintained operations with minimal delays. The Ministry of Civil Aviation credited coordination with telecom regulators for avoiding travel chaos.

Media outlets faced some production challenges, though core broadcasting remained unaffected. Egyptian Media Production City confirmed that while live programming stayed on air, several shows experienced behind-the-scenes complications.