He said that Egypt had to lower its annual births to 400,000 from the current more than two million for the country to efficiently provide jobs and social services to its citizens.

Mr al-Sisi also faulted remarks by Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Egypt’s health and population minister, that “having children is a matter of complete freedom”.

“Leaving their freedom to people who potentially do not know the extent of the challenge? In the end, it is the whole of society and the Egyptian state which will pay the price,” said Mr al-Sisi, who was speaking at the first Global Congress on Population, Health and Development

“We must organise this freedom otherwise it will create a catastrophe,” he added.

He hinted that Egypt could emulate China’s one-child policy, since China “succeeded in their population control policy”.

Since 2000, the population of Egypt, one of Africa’s most-populous countries, has grown by 40 million to reach 105 million people, according to Mr Abdel Ghaffar.

Mr Sisi also said that other African countries should adopt population control measures as the continent lacks enough resources for its surging population.