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Al-Ahram Weekly
3 days ago
- Business
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Strategies on sugar - Egypt - Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt has learned valuable lessons from the sugar crisis of 2023, ensuring adequate supplies of the strategic commodity this year. Egypt is the second-largest consumer of sugar globally, with per capita consumption reaching 34 kg per year, compared to three kg per person in Europe. This is why the sugar shortage, which began in November 2023 and spilled over to mid-2024, led the government to declare sugar a strategic commodity and to take stringent measures to prevent its recurrence. As part of the preparations for the 2024 sugarcane planting season, the government set the procurement price for sugarcane supplied to factories at LE2,500 per ton. The Sugar and Integrated Industries Company, a subsidiary of the Holding Company for Food Industries, announced that all factories were operational for the 2025 season and targeted to purchase six million tons of sugarcane. The sugarcane planting seasons take place from mid-March to the end of June and from mid-September to the end of November. Up until 23 February, the Sugar and Integrated Industries Company had received 2,637 million tons of sugarcane, resulting in the production of 275,000 tons of white sugar, said Sherif Farouk, minister of supply and internal trade, in late February. He noted that the sugar stock covered more than a year, enhancing food security and stabilising market prices. Somewhere between 320,000 and 350,000 feddans were planted with sugarcane during the past season, said Ayman Hosni, director of the Sugar Crops Institute. For sugar production, Egypt depends on sugar cane and beetroot, planted in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, respectively, and avoiding any overlap in the cultivated areas, Hosni stated. Farmers grew more interested in planting sugarcane and improving yields following the 2023 shortage. At present, a feddan of sugarcane yields an average of 55 tons, with some areas achieving yields of 70 to 80 tons per feddan, he noted. Despite meeting local demand, Hosni said that Egypt is unlikely to achieve complete self-sufficiency in sugar due to the increasing population and demand for the commodity from several industries. He noted that sugar supports 33 related industries such as paper, honey, yeast, alcohol, organic acids, vinegar, plastics, and animal feed. He is confident, however, that the country can reduce the supply gap and ensure price stability. In 2022, the state ordered the construction of two sugarcane seedling production stations in Aswan's Kom Ombo and Wadi Al-Saayda at a cost of LE470 million, with the second costing LE350 million alone. One of the stations is undergoing trial production, while the second is still being commissioned. Instructions were given to accelerate the facilities' construction following the 2023 sugar shortage. Mustafa Selim, a consultant on tissue culture production for sugarcane seedlings who works in Upper Egypt, said that Egypt's sugar factories operate a number of their own farms, which supply part of their needs. The farms use modern technologies, including greenhouses and organic farming practices, and are equipped with tissue culture seedling production units. The cost of one unit may reach up to LE15 million, but the units are important for the production of high-quality sugarcane strains and higher quantities. Since 2024, demand for sugar has risen, as has interest among sugarcane farmers due to the increase in the guaranteed price set by the government and lucrative market prices. Demand has also increased on the part of juice producers and molasses and yeast manufacturers, whose products have almost doubled in price. Unlike state-owned companies, which purchase sugarcane by the ton, private buyers purchase by the feddan. Technologies used in seedling production reduce 30 per cent of production costs and increase yield by 40 per cent, allowing farmers to make attractive profits, Selim explained. He lauded the government's efforts at addressing the sugar shortage, its early announcement of indicative prices, and its decision to open the market to more industries allowing demand for sugarcane to increase and ensuring its availability in the local market. He urged the Ministry of Agriculture to incorporate tissue culture laboratories in seedling production stations, given their role in preserving crop varieties and improving productivity. He added that this technology can also be applied to other crops, including vegetables and fruits, whose seedlings could be produced in the same facilities. While the initial investment is high, the economic return is equally significant, he pointed out. * A version of this article appears in print in the 24 July, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Mada
5 days ago
- Mada
Police close off Kafr al-Sanabsah village in Monufiya after fatal crash exposes harsh living conditions
Police officers have been patrolling near the homes of victims of last month's deadly road crash in Monufiya to ensure that no 'outsiders' approach the families, three residents told Mada Masr. They were among four residents who said that security forces have surrounded the village of Kafr al-Sanabsah for over two weeks in an effort to keep journalists out. The heightened security comes after dire living conditions in the village were thrown into the spotlight by a major crash on the Regional Ring Road in Monufiya which killed 18 women and girls, aged 14 to 22, from Kafr al-Sanabsah on their commute to work as day laborers at agricultural export facilities. As scrutiny of the village increased, security forces have made it difficult for anyone from outside the village to enter. A car carrying visitors who had come to offer condolences was blocked on the grounds that they were not locals, a relative of two of the victims said. Officers inspected the car, checked ID cards for potential journalists and only allowed the group through after calling one of the victims' families to verify they were expecting guests. A relative of another victim said that a car affiliated with Al-Arabiya was barred from entering the village to conduct interviews. Other journalists, who had reached out to families by phone, canceled planned visits after being warned that police would not let them in. A third source, related to another two victims, said security even tried to block him from entry because he lives in a neighboring village. The incident brought attention to the village's dire living conditions, drawing many journalists and visitors in its aftermath. Media reports soon spotlighted the widespread poverty and lack of basic services in the village — particularly educational facilities. When Mada Masr visited Kafr al-Sanabsah, residents noted that there is only one middle school and no secondary school, forcing students to commute to nearby villages or the Menouf district to attend industrial or commercial secondary schools — adding to the financial burden that drives women and girls to seek work despite the high risk and minimal protections for agricultural laborers. Within a week of the crash, the state announced compensation packages: LE200,000 per victim's family from the Social Solidarity Ministry, LE300,000 from the Labor Ministry and LE100,000 from the Transport Ministry. Donations from business figures followed, including Ahmed Ezz and Mohamed Aboul Enein. Later, an unnamed businessman pledged LE2 million to each victim's family — though two families told Mada Masr they are yet to receive the money. 'They couldn't just let us have the donations,' one relative of a victim of the crash said. The village mayor Mohamed Allam summoned the victims' families to a meeting — some of whom attended. There, he asked each family to contribute part of the compensation and donated funds toward buying land to build a secondary school. He proposed that each family donate the equivalent of one kirat of land — around LE250,000. Several residents did not welcome the mayor's request. The relative criticized it, saying that the state owes it to residents to build a school. 'People here really need that money,' he said. 'You came and saw the state of the houses.' The father of one of the victims told Mada Masr that the mayor later tried to persuade those who objected by sending respected community members to mediate. Shortly after the meeting, however, a video circulated on social media in which Allam's brother — according to the same source — said that the initiative to buy land had come voluntarily from the villagers themselves. Mada Masr was unable to reach the mayor for comment, as his phone remained unavailable at the time of publishing. But a close associate of his — a member of the pro-state Nation's Future Party — denied that the initiative was the mayor's idea and insisted it originated with the villagers themselves, adding that the government's Haya Karima initiative would eventually fund the construction of the school. The planned school is set to be built on a 3,500 square meter plot of land, but according to the source, the full amount for the purchase had not yet been paid. Before the crash, villagers had already attempted to pool money to buy land for a school, a father of one of the victims told Mada Masr. But their efforts fell through amid what he described as the state's longstanding neglect of the village.
Egypt Independent
12-06-2025
- Egypt Independent
El-Degwi family feud: Prosecutors close high-profile theft case after complaint withdrawal
The Egyptian Prosecutor's Office has closed the high-profile case involving the theft of funds belonging to Dr. Nawal El Degwi. The case had garnered significant public attention due to the prominence of the individuals involved, the substantial reported sum stolen, and the tragic shooting death of one of her grandsons. The Prosecutor General's Office stated that Dr. El Degwi officially withdrew her complaint, emphasizing her unwillingness to press charges against any family members, especially her grandsons. Her decision was driven by a desire to preserve family cohesion, strengthen kinship ties, and support reconciliation efforts within the household. Prosecutors had launched an investigation following Dr. El Degwi's report of the theft. They questioned several individuals connected to the incident, including Ahmed Sherif El Degwi and Amr Sherif El Degwi, to determine their involvement. However, investigations found no conclusive evidence that either of them committed the crime, nor were sufficient clues or indications found to implicate them. This outcome aligned with the complainant's wishes, as she explicitly stated in her withdrawal that she was not accusing any specific party. Consequently, the Prosecutor General's Office issued a decision to close the investigation, given the official withdrawal of the complaint and the absence of clear criminal suspicion in the documented evidence. The case had long captivated public interest in Egypt due to the stature of the individuals involved. Dr. Nawal El Degwi is a prominent Egyptian educational entrepreneur, known for founding Egypt's first private language school in the 1950s, a time when foreign schools largely dominated the sector. The media widely dubbed the case 'the grandsons' inheritance conflict,' amidst mutual accusations of stealing a fortune estimated at billions of Egyptian pounds. Further tragedy struck the family in May when Ahmed El Degwi, Dr. El Degwi's grandson, was found dead from a gunshot wound inside his villa, hours after returning from medical treatment abroad. The Ministry of Interior confirmed that he had shot himself with a licensed handgun. The deceased Ahmed and his brother Amr had also been accused in the theft incident by another granddaughter, Ingy El Degwi. It was later revealed that family members had been embroiled in legal disputes for three years, with over 20 lawsuits concerning properties valued at billions of pounds. On the other side of the dispute, the male grandsons—Ahmed, Amr, and Mohamed Sherif El Degwi—challenged the authenticity of sale contracts for six mansions previously owned by Dr. El Degwi. These properties had been sold to her two granddaughters (daughters of Mona El Degwi) for only LE50 million, while their market value was estimated at over LE2 billion.
Mada
13-03-2025
- Business
- Mada
State water bill collectors in Qalyubiya suspend protest after company promises to meet demands
In the face of the Qalyubiya Drinking Water and Sanitation Company's push in recent months to move workers to commission-based contracts, bill collectors staged a one-day protest on Tuesday. In addition to their demand to halt pressure to change to a casualized labor contract, workers at the Qanater protest demanded the reinstatement of their health insurance cards, which the company suspended a year ago, as well as the enforcement of the government-mandated minimum wage amid rising living costs and the demanding nature of their job. Tuesday's protests took place across water stations affiliated with the state's Holding Company for Drinking Water and Wastewater in Banha, Khusus, Shubra al-Kheima, Qanater al-Khairiya and Khanka. Workers suspended the protest on Wednesday, one day in, after company management made promises to address their concerns. The demonstrations ended after workers received a phone call from someone working at a security agency. 'Someone from the National Security Agency — we don't know who — called us and said they scheduled a meeting for us with the company chair for [Wednesday] to resolve the issue,' one worker told Mada Masr. On Wednesday morning, workers' representatives met with company chair Mostafa Megahed, who promised to grant them a financial bonus by Sunday at the latest, according to Mohamed Dawoud, a spokesperson for the bill collectors who spoke to Mada Masr. Dawoud, who attended the Wednesday meeting, said Megahed agreed that the company branches would stop pressuring workers to sign new 'agency contracts' to replace their current ones. Megahed also pledged to review their demand for permanent contracts and implement the minimum wage starting April. Currently, many bill collectors work under temporary contracts – defined by the labor law as work that is by its nature part of the employer's business, but for a period of less than one year — that are supposed to pay a fixed salary of LE500 and then a 1.5 percent commission of all bills they collect. In reality, however, 'the company only pays the commission — if you collect, you get paid; if you don't, there's no salary,' the worker said. And even if workers were to receive the fixed component of their salary, it would still fall far below the legally mandated public sector minimum wage of LE6,000. 'The highest possible salary is LE3,300, and only a few even get that. Where is the minimum wage?' asked a worker from the Qaha water company. Another protester in Khanka, employed for six years, told Mada Masr that their monthly income never exceeded LE2,500, as it is entirely dependent on their collection rate. Rather than attempt to remedy the pay gap between the legally mandated minimum wage and workers' actual pay, the company has tried to pressure its collectors to accept 'agency contracts,' which would normalize the status quo of commission-based pay without a fixed wage and strip temporary-contracted workers of their right to permanent contracts, which they are entitled to after six years of continuous part-time employment. Agency contracts would reclassify workers as commission-based workers rather than company employees, effectively stripping them of labor rights such as health and social insurance. Since June, the company has repeatedly threatened workers with termination if they refused to switch to agency contracts, a worker from Qanater said. By September, it ramped up the pressure by hiring new collectors under the agency system while restricting non-compliant workers to a single collection ledger — compared to up to four given to agency-contracted collectors. This significantly reduced their earnings as it cut into their ability to collect commissions. According to the worker, who has worked with the company on a temporary contract for six years, water collectors' wages have dropped to an average of LE2,000 since last September — down from between LE3,000 and LE4,000 — after they refused to sign the company's new agency contracts. The agency contracts would also allow the company to avoid granting temporary workers permanent contracts after a certain amount of time, which they are obliged to do by law but have refused to grant in many instances. The Khanka worker told Mada Masr that one of the reasons workers rejected the 'agency contract' is that it would nullify their seniority under their current one. 'That means all my years of work will be erased, and I'd have to start from scratch,' they said. Water bill collectors in Qanater have attempted to push back against the company's evasion of handing out permanent contracts, having filed a complaint with the Labor Ministry Directorate in Toukh in June. However, the office refused to register their complaint, informing them that their contracts were effectively permanent since they renewed automatically, and that complaints could only be filed in cases of termination, according to the Qanater worker. Several workers have filed lawsuits demanding permanent contracts, the Qaha company worker said, adding that their own case has been postponed multiple times, with a verdict expected on March 25. A lawyer representing Qalyubiya's water company workers told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity that most employees — whether under permanent contracts and denied their bonuses or temporary commission-based workers — have taken legal action against the company. Temporary workers, the lawyer argued, should also be entitled to bonuses and promotions after years of service. Some workers have already secured final court rulings ordering the company to pay their dues, but 'the company refuses to enforce them, including final rulings from the Court of Cassation.' The Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Ministry and the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater have recorded the names of workers involved in these lawsuits, the lawyer said. Officials assured the lawyer that the issue would be resolved 'after Eid al-Adha,' which is in June. The lawyer has also filed cases against the company over its failure to implement the minimum wage, with proceedings still ongoing, according to them. Water bill collection is a core function of the water company, making it impermissible to employ collectors under temporary contracts with wages below the legal minimum, said Mohab Aboud, coordinator of the alliance of labor secretariats in parties and unions. Speaking to Mada Masr after a wave of protests broke out in April last year, he noted that demonstrations by water collectors and meter readers had persisted for several months across multiple governorates, including Qalyubiya, Giza, Minya and Assiut. The largest protest took place in Aswan, where workers staged a ten-day sit-in. In recent years the government has attempted to cut back on what it calls a 'bloated' civil service workforce. In 2015, the president issued a contentious civil service law that served to halt bonuses, slow wage increases and limit the promotions of countless civil servants, while granting sweeping powers to state-appointed company administrators. Numerous protests were staged against the civil service law in 2015. Civil servants argued President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi didn't confer with them or their unions before it was introduced. In the end, the newly elected 2015 Parliament chose not to ratify the presidential decree, making it the only law out of 342 issued before the Parliament convened that the legislative body rejected. Subsequent legislative efforts to thin out the expansive civil service force have seen Parliament grant the state the right to sack civil servants put on terrorism lists even if they are yet to be investigated on suspicion of terrorism, as well as workers deemed to have 'violated professional duties' in ways that harm 'economic interest or national production' and if there is 'serious evidence' that an employee has 'undermined national security and stability.'
Mada
04-03-2025
- Business
- Mada
Rice export ban for everyone but Argany
In early February, the Egyptian Customs Authority renewed its ban on rice exports, which has been in place for over eight years per the given rationale that it will help conserve the country's scarce water resources. Yet, just six days later, Sons of Sinai for Trading and General Contracting, a subsidiary of the Organi Group, 'proudly' announced it is exporting rice to 18 countries. Official data published in January showed a 3,808 percent increase in the value of Egypt's rice exports during the first ten months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. Traders and farmers speaking to Mada Masr attribute this surge to undisclosed exemptions granted to Sons of Sinai, owned by business magnate Ibrahim al-Argany, whose political and economic influence has grown significantly in recent years, in close collaboration with the state. According to sources in the rice trade, the company leveraged these privileges to impose compulsory fees on every ton of rice exported through them. While the government insists the export ban remains in effect, officials tell Mada Masr that these shipments are designated as humanitarian aid. But rice industry insiders tell a different story — one of a trade entangled in political and economic interests, benefiting a select few. *** For over two decades, successive governments have imposed restrictions on rice cultivation and exports in response to the country's water scarcity crisis. Rice is a water-intensive crop, consuming what the government estimates to be 25 percent of Egypt's annual Nile water allocation of 55 billion cubic meters. Despite the ban, the government periodically allowed exports under pressure from traders, in exchange for fines of up to LE2,000 per ton, which were to be paid to the Supply Ministry. Since 2016, however, authorities have taken a stricter stance, imposing a ban on rice exports of all kinds, which has been renewed annually, particularly as concerns over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam grew. In 2018, the government restricted rice farming, limiting cultivation to designated plots — the majority of which are highly saline — based on an annually renewed decree. Farmers caught planting rice beyond these plots faced fines and penalties up to imprisonment. Egypt's allocated rice farming areas — spanning over one million feddans — produce around four million tons of white rice annually, exceeding domestic demand, which stands at 3.6 million tons. Yet farmers continue to expand cultivation beyond imposed limits, drawn by rice's high profitability compared to costs, its guaranteed market, as well as concerns over soil salinity, as rice irrigation helps reduce salt levels in soil. This has led to a surplus of up to one million tons annually, according to official estimates, plus the 130,000 tons of Basmati rice imports each year. In July 2024, just a month before the August harvest season, reports began circulating among farmers and traders that rice exports would be permitted. While some dismissed the claims, others confirmed that exports had been allowed, prompting traders to rush to stockpile rice from the market. Some hinted at exemptions granted to select traders, while others described what was happening as 'organized smuggling' on a scale 'larger than all previous years.' The issue reached parliament when Nation's Future Party MP Mohamed Abdallah Zein Eddin formally questioned the government that same month about reports of rice exports benefiting 'certain companies,' warning of the potential impact on domestic prices. At the time, Mada Masr reached out to leading rice traders, who denied that exports were officially permitted. They said that rice leaving the country did so through two main channels: smuggling operations and humanitarian aid officially exported by the state. The latter was exempt from the export ban, they said, and was either donated or sold to international relief organizations for redistribution. However, a single industry source told Mada Masr that one company received an exemption allowing it to export rice for commercial purposes, beyond the bounds of humanitarian aid. The source attributed the company's selection to its ties with what they described as 'sovereign entities.' After a period of quiet, the rice export controversy resurfaced in January when the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) published official data. Mada Masr reviewed the figures, which showed that the value of rice exports surged to US$9 million in the first ten months of the previous year — a leap of 3,808 percent compared to the same period in 2023. In October alone, the spike exceeded 4,527 percent. Despite the Egyptian Customs Authority's insistence that the export ban remains in effect, six sources in the rice trade sector tell Mada Masr that the state allowed certain companies to export rice. At the forefront was Sons of Sinai, followed by smaller allocations to the Egyptian-Sudanese Company for Development and Multiple Investments, founded in 2021 and jointly owned by Egypt's Holding Company for Food Industries, the National Service Projects Organization and Sudan's Etegahat Group affiliated with the Sudanese military-owned Defense Industries System. 'Any trader who wants to export goes to Sons of Sinai, pays them US$150 per ton, gets a permit, signs over the shipment, collects their payment and the company exports under its own name,' says a rice trader speaking on condition of anonymity. But weeks before Sons of Sinai 'proudly' announced it exports rice, several sources, particularly those in official positions, insisted that exports were strictly limited to humanitarian aid for countries like Libya, Palestine, Sudan and Syria. MP Magdy al-Waleely, a member of the Federation of Egyptian Industries' (FEI) Grains Chamber, told Mada Masr that exports were restricted to 'specific entities' granted special permits, often with links to official institutions such as the Defense Ministry, which he said made the issue 'non-negotiable.' However, after Sons of Sinai's post, Waleely revised his stance, saying that the state had initially granted the Argany-owned company a permit to export rice to Gaza due to wartime circumstances. 'Then it expanded to Syria, Jordan, Iraq and other countries facing political issues. Later, it extended to regular trade with countries like Turkey and Morocco,' he said. The decision to export rice despite Egypt's severe economic crisis and acute water shortages, particularly to countries that do not appear in need of aid, was attributed by some sources to political and strategic considerations. Among these was Ragab Shehata, the head of the FEI's Rice Division, who told Mada Masr that the exports carry political dimensions tied to Egypt's foreign relations, within the framework of regional policies aimed at strengthening political influence and security cooperation, particularly given Egypt's rice surplus. Shehata said that escalating political crises in the region led the government to reassess its export policies, whether for humanitarian purposes or diplomatic gains, while firmly denying the exports were for commercial purposes. When Mada Masr reached out again to Shehata days after Sons of Sinai's post, he said: 'Maybe some stupid employee posted that. I'll call them and tell them to take it down. If this spreads, it'll only cause trouble and drive prices up.' He also advised our reporters to 'not to ask about things that might upset you if you knew the answer. Even if they posted it, it's best to turn a blind eye.' A major rice trader exporting through Sons of Sinai tells Mada Masr that the company has been allowed to export for months as a reward for Argany's role in Sinai, albeit unannounced. However, the source criticized the company's public declaration as 'provocative.' 'They were specifically granted this exemption under special circumstances. We live in a state governed by law and a Constitution that guarantees equality — you can't grant privileges to some while excluding others. They are publicly saying that the state gave him special treatment, and that will create problems,' the trader said. Beyond these semi-official exports, Egyptian rice continues to leave the country through smuggling, a practice that has surged since the export ban was imposed in 2016. Smuggling occurs either via informal border routes or through ports under the guise of other grains permitted for export, according to three sources speaking to Mada Masr — a grain trader, an Agriculture Ministry official and a prominent farmer in the Delta. The smuggled shipments have been particularly noticeable in Gulf markets, where demand for Egyptian rice has surged. 'Before the ban, we exported around one million tons of Egyptian rice to 64 countries,' the Agriculture Ministry official says. 'It's a unique variety with no equivalent except a very expensive American type, which is why smuggling increased. Plus, some shipments leave informally with state approval,' they added, declining to provide further details. *** The two rice traders, who exported through Sons of Sinai last year and this year, tell Mada Masr that the government initially allowed the company to export 100,000 tons in mid-2024. This was raised to 250,000 tons this year after it became clear that rice surplus increased due to cultivation beyond the designated areas, meaning that these exports would not impact prices or availability in the local market, one of the traders says. While the government saw this surplus as an opportunity for exports, the Supply Ministry removed rice from ration cards in August 2023. Former Supply Minister Ali Meselhy justified the decision by stating, 'The subsidy per person is LE50, which is not enough to buy rice — only oil and sugar. Should we just send rice over to [food subsidy outlets] and have it go to waste?' The fact that a non-governmental entity was granted the profits from surplus rice exports, at least officially, comes at the expense of the 61 million Egyptians reliant on food subsidies. For nearly two years, they have had to purchase rice from the open market at up to LE35 per kilo instead of LE12.5, after it had been scrapped from ration cards. It also comes at the expense of farmers, who were forced to sell their rice at low prices due to pressure from major traders looking to maximize their profits from exports, which reached up to $750 per ton. 'A large number of farmers, especially those with small plots, sold their crops early in the season to traders or mills for LE14,000 per ton because they lacked storage space,' another prominent Delta farmer said. 'Now, the price has risen to LE18,000 per ton due to increased market demand. Meanwhile, traders who bought rice early and stockpiled it are now trying to maximize their gains by raising prices after learning about the exports.' Moreover, rice exports encourage the arbitrary expansion of rice cultivation, which depletes Egypt's already limited natural resources in Egypt, such as water. The country's per capita water share has already fallen to 500 cubic meters annually in 2024, the threshold the United Nations defines as 'absolute scarcity.' Most rice fields rely on flood irrigation, which consumes massive amounts of water. This reduces supply available to crops in neighboring fields, disrupts water distribution through irrigation canal networks and prevents adequate water from reaching many lands, as the water resources and irrigation minister said last year. For over a decade, farmers have voiced complaints about hundreds of feddans drying up due to water shortages, which have led to recurring crop damage, and hence, annual financial losses. MP Mohamed Abdallah Zein Eddin tells Mada Masr that he has yet to receive a response to his parliamentary inquiry on rice exports, submitted last July. 'If Egypt issues export permits to Sudan or Gaza as aid, that's fine. But the exports come from Egyptian companies selling to foreign companies and countries like Turkey — does Turkey need aid? If the decision is meant to serve the state's political interests, then no one can object, but it's important for us to know,' he explains. 'Some people advised me not to speak up, telling me not to dig into the matter,' he adds. Mada Masr reached out to the ministries of investment and foreign trade and supply, as well as the Egyptian Customs Authority, but received no response as of the time of publication.
