Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has ratified a law granting wider powers to an army-linked body to run the economy.
Under the legislation, the Future of Egypt Authority for Sustainable Development will be restructured, turning it into a powerful economic group reporting directly to the President, according to the official gazette published on Monday.
It grants the body broad powers to absorb state-owned land and companies, establish tax-free “sustainable development zones”, manage investment funds and oversee projects.
Since 2024, the Future of Egypt Authority, also known as Mostaqbal Misr, has expanded rapidly beyond its original role in agricultural and industrial development.
It manages one of the world's largest wheat import programmes, has assumed control of major Egyptian lakes and fisheries, acquired the largest stake in the Egyptian Commodities Exchange, and expanded into housing, construction, renewable energy and infant formula production.
The law comes amid a broader effort by Egypt to reform the management of state assets following years of economic pressures and as part of reforms encouraged by the International Monetary Fund.
Egypt's House of Representatives approved the legislation this month, granting the authority greater independence and transferring its affiliation from the Ministry of Defence.
Sustainable development can now be established by presidential decree, with state-owned land and facilities within those zones transferred to the authority.
The law also creates the Pyramids of the Nile Sovereign Fund, which will be allowed to invest domestically and internationally, acquire state assets by presidential decree, establish subsidiary companies, and enjoy the same privileges and tax exemptions granted to Egypt's sovereign wealth fund.
A parallel fund, Daem (meaning “support”), is to channel investment returns into education, health, housing and infrastructure projects. The directors of each fund will be given ranks equal to those of deputy ministers, with the authority's president equivalent to a minister, placing the body in the top tier of Egypt's government.
The legislation also exempts the authority's companies from laws governing the public business sector and requires other branches of Egypt's government to provide data and statistics when needed.
The authority's activities will cover agriculture, livestock, industry, logistics, tourism, energy, communications and education.
By May last year, Future of Egypt had been mandated to reclaim about 1.89 million hectares – nearly half the country's cultivated land – including areas in the Western Desert, Sinai and land near Sudan and Libya.
