Egypt will host an African Business Summit later this year aimed at boosting continental integration between governments, the private sector, and African financial institutions, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Tuesday.
The announcement came as Sisi chaired the 43rd session of the Steering Committee of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) via videoconference.
The meeting was attended by African heads of state, member country representatives, and the heads of the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, and the African Export-Import Bank.
In his opening remarks, El-Sisi reviewed Egypt’s priorities and achievements during its chairmanship of the committee since February 2023.
“We have successfully translated continental policies and strategies into regional and national programs, mobilized financing for African projects, and launched initiatives to empower women and youth in sectors such as innovation, the digital economy, and manufacturing,” he said.
President El-Sisi highlighted a series of initiatives launched during his chairmanship of the AUDA-NEPAD steering committee, including the “Team Africa” initiative, which aims to mobilize $500 billion in financing for around 300 priority development projects across the continent.
He also referred to steps toward establishing a NEPAD development fund to address persistent funding gaps, alongside expanding the agency’s presence across African states to align national development plans with Agenda 2063.
According to El-Sisi, these efforts helped secure $100 million for public health services, advance the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), and support initiatives empowering women and youth in sectors such as innovation and the digital economy, as well as industrialization and value-chain integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
El-Sisi also emphasized a comprehensive approach linking peace, security, and development, noting progress in updating the African Union’s post-conflict reconstruction and development policy and strengthening cooperation with the AU center in Cairo and the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development.
He said his administration urged major economic powers to invest in priority African projects, drew attention to the continent’s mounting debt crisis, and called for reform of the global economic system to better meet African needs.
Addressing climate challenges, El-Sisi noted that Egypt hosts NEPAD’s Center of Excellence for Climate Resilience and Adaptation, and added that he had allocated $100 million from national resources to support water, food, and energy projects in Nile Basin countries as seed funding to mobilize further international and African financing.
The president also congratulated Angola’s João Manuel Lourenço on his election as the new committee chair and expressed appreciation for the leadership of the outgoing committee.
“I extend my sincere thanks to President Lourenço for his efforts during his tenure as AU chair and to Mr. Mahmoud Ali Yusuf, Chair of the African Union Commission, for his leadership.”
He also expressing confidence in AUDA-NEPAD’s executive director, Nardos Bekele. “I am confident in her leadership for a second term, to build on the agency’s pivotal role in supporting Africa’s development agenda.”
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