Cairo Governor Ibrahim Saber has ordered on Tuesday 28 April a halt on issuing new licences for restaurant and café activities in several of the capital’s most historic and residential districts, including Heliopolis, Maadi, Zamalek, and Garden City.
The decision was approved by the Supreme Committee for Public Shop Licenses and is intended to protect the architectural heritage and the largely residential character of these neighborhoods.
Under the new rules, the ban applies to the issuance of any fresh licences for café and restaurant operations within the specified districts, meaning existing licensed establishments will remain the only permitted operators.
The measure is framed as a regulatory response to growing local concerns, with the governor pointing to repeated complaints from residents as well as civil society organizations about the effects of the commercial expansion in these areas.
Saber said the policy is primarily designed to address persistent problems linked to noise pollution and disturbances that residents attribute to the increasingly “random” spread of café and restaurant activities.
He also stressed the need to prevent the conversion of residential units into administrative or commercial spaces, warning that such changes have disrupted privacy and undermined the tranquility that has long characterized Cairo’s older elite districts.
The governor added that the decision was issued in line with Public Shops Law No. 154 of 2019, and was taken in coordination with the Supreme Committee for Public Shop Licensing headed by the Minister of Local Development and Environment.
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