MPs gave their final approval to a controversial new law on Tuesday that aims to reorganise the Mustaqbal Misr Authority and give it broad powers to manage projects across different economic sectors.
The reorganisation, according to a government-drafted explanatory note, will restructure the authority as a body of a “special nature” reporting directly to the president and provide it with technical, financial, and administrative independence.
Article 34 of the new law stipulates that the head of the authority shall hold a rank equivalent to that of a minister and retain the benefits and privileges prescribed for ministers, provincial governors, and the heads of public authorities in order to help achieve the authority’s objectives in a fast and flexible way.
The president’s decision to form the authority’s board will determine the financial treatment prescribed for its members.
The Mustaqbal Misr Authority began as a mainly land-reclamation agency managed by the Defence Ministry, with the aim of “bridging the gap on imported agricultural products”. It was later converted into an authority officially established by presidential decree in 2022, with its activities expanding to include agriculture, industry, logistics, energy, tourism, construction, and other sectors.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Hani Hanna said granting further powers to the head of the authority is consistent with the philosophy of the new law, which aims to speed up its work procedures, avoid bureaucracy, and increase the efficiency of management.
The law will allow the authority the right to establish a new sovereign wealth fund called Ahramat Al-Nil (Nile Pyramids) along with a service fund named Daam (Support). The bill grants the authority and the two funds broad powers to manage assets and projects across different economic sectors.
The Mustaqbal Misr Sovereign Wealth Fund (Nile Pyramids) will invest in Egypt and abroad with the goal of maximising long-term returns. The Service Fund is intended to promote social justice and solidarity and help establish and manage service and development projects in education, healthcare, housing, infrastructure, scientific research, and training, in cooperation with state institutions.
The authority’s new powers will extend beyond creating the two funds. It will be able to establish subsidiary companies, borrow funds, receive grants and donations, and manage national projects and sustainable development zones.
The new law grants the president the authority to transfer the ownership of any state-owned assets, currently in use or not, to the authority’s funds. It further authorises the president to transfer the ownership of any similar national funds by presidential decree.
It also allows ministries and public authorities to assign the management or use of their assets, or transfer some of their responsibilities, to the authority through protocols approved by the cabinet or by presidential decree.
However, the discussion of the 81-article law, which received final approval on Tuesday, saw a storm of objections from MPs, who complained that the new powers granted to the authority could turn it into “a state within a state”.
Ahmed Abdel-Gawwad, secretary-general of the parliamentary majority party Mustaqbal Watan, stated that the discussion had ended with a broad agreement among MPs on the importance of the authority and the role it plays in supporting development efforts, facilitating procedures for investors, and contributing to reducing bureaucracy.
“These successes have necessitated the setting up of a legal framework to regulate the performance of the authority and define its new roles in development,” Abdel-Gawwad said.
He explained that the parliamentary committees that had discussed the first draft of the law had introduced substantial amendments, which helped address the concerns raised by opposition MPs, especially regarding the limits of the authority’s powers, ensuring its oversight, and maintaining fair competition rules within the local market.
“MPs also agreed to put in place all the necessary legal guarantees to ensure that the authority acts as a partner in development and not as a monopolist and its full commitment to paying the prescribed taxes and insurance fees,” he added.
He indicated that prominent amendments introduced by MPs included subjecting the authority to the oversight of the Central Auditing Organisation and approving parliamentary oversight of it when establishing sustainable development zones.
Independent MP Diaaeddin Dawoud said an intervention by opposition MPs had led to introducing more than 30 amendments to the new law to protect public funds and tax rights.
He indicated that the law was originally drafted to exempt the authority from government wage caps, the civil service law, and public procurement rules. “It also stated that the treasury would cover all the taxes, including VAT and stamp tax, and pay insurance premiums on the authority’s behalf.”
“This has changed, and the authority will not be exempt from paying taxes or insurance premiums,” Dawoud said.
Head of the joint committee that discussed the law Mahgoub Eid indicated that major amendments introduced by MPs had included placing the authority under the oversight of the Central Auditing Organisation.
It would be responsible for paying its share of social-insurance premiums instead of the public treasury, and it would not be exempted from paying taxes. Its decisions to establish sustainable development zones would be presented to the House of Representatives in a public session to achieve a balance between the authority carrying out its roles and enhancing transparency, the governance of procedures, and providing more guarantees for the scope of its work.
Its authority to issue bonds and financing instruments was removed from the law to prevent overlap or duplication with other entities, Eid said.
The law was rejected by five political parties: the Wafd, the Egyptian Socialist Democratic Party, the Conservatives, the Reform and Development Party, and the leftist Tagammu.
A large number of independent MPs also expressed reservations, stating that the authority’s powers could harm competition rules and the private sector in particular.
Irene Said, head of the parliamentary group of the Reform and Development Party, said the law gives the authority monopolistic powers that contradict the Competition Protection Law.
In response, Bahaa Al-Ghannam, head of the authority, said that the drafting of the law had come in response to the expansion of the authority’s activities.
The law stipulates that it will not be an investor itself but rather “an incubator for foreign investors” with full awareness of the state’s governance of economic activity and the need for a greater role for the private sector.
Wafd Party Parliamentary Spokesman Mohamed Abdel-Alim said he rejected the law “in form and substance”, considering it as reflecting the failure of successive governments to deal with the authority in recent years.
“As the law is of great importance and relates to the future of Egypt, it was necessary to put it forward for national dialogue and to have extensive discussions about it in the House during a sufficient period of time,” Abdel-Alim said.
“The discussion of a law of this importance after years of successive governments and in less than one week within the House and a few hours before the end of the legislative season and the summer holidays is unacceptable,” he said.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 16 July, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.
Short link: