Egypt's removal of Nomani Nomani as the buyer of more than 5 million tonnes of wheat a year on world markets put a spotlight on a role that brought stability to the task of feeding the nation's 80 million people.
Mr Nomani, 58, has worked at the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC) since 1979.
The authority helps to provide subsidised bread in a country where a quarter of the population lived below the poverty line in 2011, according to state figures.
He took over as vice chairman of GASC under the government of the former president Hosni Mubarak and said in an interview he would become an adviser to Bassem Oda, the supply minister, on the planning and purchase of commodities.
Mamdouh Abdel Fattah, a colleague at GASC who joined the authority in 1981, will replace him.
"What this person does is critical to the Egyptian political stability," said Hani Sabra, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a political risk and research company, speaking from New York.
"You have tens of millions of Egyptians dependent on subsidised bread.
"The country will collapse politically if there is no access to bread."
The government that came to power after the 2011 uprising against Mr Mubarak is making changes at key ministerial posts as it contends with a growing budget deficit and negotiations to secure IMF financing.
The US$2.5 billion (Dh9.18 bn) a year programme provides 80 billion round loaves at less than one US cent a piece, a daily average of about three per person, the department of agriculture in Washington estimates.
Mr Nomani's decisions on buying grain moved futures markets from Paris to Chicago, said Arkady Zlochevsky, the president of Russia's Grain Union in Moscow.
When he bought 400,000 tonnes of wheat from the United States, France and Romania on December 1, GASC's first purchase from the US in the season that started on July 1, Chicago futures rose as much as 1.6 per cent and Paris-traded wheat jumped 1.8 per cent on December 3.
"Regardless of who's in power, Egypt relies on its subsidised bread programme," Mr Zlochevsky said.
"Any government that dares to give up this system will be swept away by the anger of the Egyptian people. And that's why every government will continue to fund wheat tenders no matter the cost."
Mr Nomani picked the combination of factors that would benefit Egypt most and played time and origin spreads as well as competition between suppliers, Mr Zlochevsky said.
His one-time purchases could be big enough to feed Ghana for an entire year.
"The government saw it fit in the present time to allow me to become the adviser to the minister and allow someone else to take my position," Mr Nomani said at his new ministry office.
"I will be keeping an eye on the international commodity markets in my new job, but not as frequently as I did in my former post."
Egypt's wheat consumption has surged 39 per cent in the past 10 years, outpacing a 32 per cent increase in output and making the country rely on imports for half of its use, the USDA data shows.
* Bloomberg News
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
- Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
- Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Seemar’s top six for the Dubai World Cup Carnival:
1. Reynaldothewizard
2. North America
3. Raven’s Corner
4. Hawkesbury
5. New Maharajah
6. Secret Ambition
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
