Egypt’s Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade has extended authorization for the Future of Egypt Agency for Sustainable Development (Mostaqbal Misr) to export up to 200,000 tons of rice through the end of 2027, according to an official letter obtained by Al Manassa.
The directive prolongs a carve-out from a nationwide rice export ban originally enacted in 2016 to conserve water, according to an Aug. 13 official letter from the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade obtained by Al Manassa. The decision highlights Cairo’s broader strategy of using state entities to maintain control over strategic agricultural surpluses and bolster hard-currency reserves amid ongoing economic pressures.
Under the terms detailed by Amani El-Wassal, head of the ministry’s agreements and foreign trade sector, Mostaqbal Misr (the Future of Egypt Agency for Sustainable Development) is authorized to execute export shipments directly or through designated third parties through Dec. 31, 2027. The measure follows an initial, unannounced approval granted on June 24 by Supply Minister Sherif Farouk.
The letter clarifies that Mostaqbal Misr may execute export shipments directly or through authorized third-party delegates.
The extension comes despite a decade-long general ban on Egyptian rice exports beginning in 2016. Former Minister of Trade and Industry Decree No. 722 enacted the ban to preserve scarce water resources threatened by the construction and filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
The government and the Customs Authority formally renewed the prohibition in February 2025.
However, the ban did not halt all commercial rice shipments. In February 2025, independent news outlet Mada Masr reported that Abnaa Sinai (Sons of Sinai), a company owned by the Organi Group, declared it was exporting rice to 18 countries.
Following those disclosures, the Future of Egypt Authority contacted the Customs Authority in April, requesting a total block on all outgoing rice shipments that lacked its prior written consent, according to an official document obtained by Al Manassa.
In its April request, the authority cited presidential directives instructing the cabinet to restrict rice exporting exclusively to the authority. The directives also mandated that all foreign currency proceeds from rice exports be surrendered to the Central Bank of Egypt in exchange for Egyptian pounds.
Egypt produced approximately 4 million tons of white rice last year against an estimated domestic consumption of 3.5 million tons, according to previous statements made to Al Manassa by Hamdi El-Mowafi, head of the National Project for Rice Production Development at the Ministry of Agriculture.
