Sisi Ratifies Law Granting Army-Linked Future of Egypt Authority Sweeping Economic Powers

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ratified Law No. 147 of 2026, published in the Official Gazette on July 27, reorganizing the Future of Egypt Authority for Sustainable Development ('Mostaqbal Misr'). The law grants the authority administrative, financial, and technical independence and transfers its affiliation from the Ministry of Defence directly to the Presidency, designating it a national entity of a special nature. The legislation enables the authority to establish tax-free 'sustainable development zones' by presidential decree, absorb state-owned land and companies, and manage two new investment vehicles — the Pyramids of the Nile Sovereign Fund and Daem — channelling returns into education, health, housing, and infrastructure. The authority, which already runs one of the world's largest wheat-import programmes and controls major lakes, fisheries, and the Egyptian Commodities Exchange, has been tasked with reclaiming roughly 1.89 million hectares — nearly half the country's cultivated land. The restructuring is part of a broader effort to reform state-asset management encouraged by the IMF, but drew criticism from opposition lawmakers and rights groups over the concentration of regulatory, investment, and oversight power in one body.