Dr. Yousrey El-Sharkawi, Chairman of the Egyptian-African Businessmen Association, confirmed during the celebration of the three-year anniversary of the inauguration of this Egyptian-African entity, which was held in Cairo yesterday, in the presence of a number of ministers and ambassadors of African countries accredited in Cairo, and Egyptian businessmen working in the African market, that all organizations and unions The Egyptian ministries and Egyptian and African banks included this entity with support and care to make this entity a success, to be a bridge for cooperation between Egypt and its fellow African countries.
He said: For three years, we have been part of the Egyptian diplomacy, led by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, towards the African continent, which is honestly considered the safe strategic environment for Egypt. Therefore, the relevant institutions of the Egyptian state, led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which represents Egyptian diplomacy, did not delay in supporting and assisting the association. Any official in the Egyptian embassies on the African continent is late or neglects to help and support us in supporting and developing economic and development relations in African countries.
He added, “Today we celebrate the third year of the success of this entity with effective participation, and in the presence and participation of Dr. Mohamed Saafan, former Minister of Manpower, and a number of African ambassadors and members of African diplomatic missions to Egypt, such as the embassies of Ghana, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and others, in addition to a group of heads of bodies such as the Suez Canal Authority and the Export Control Authority, and government agencies such as the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Egyptian Commercial Representation, and some institutions such as the Customs Authority and the Tax Authority, and banks such as The African Development Bank and some Egyptian banks, and representatives of the House of Representatives, led by Dr. Adel Abdel Fadil, Chairman of the Manpower Committee, Solaf Darwish, Deputy of the Committee, and Representatives Mahmoud Darwish, Mona Abdullah, and Evelyn Matta Boutros, in addition to the sister associations, in addition to two hundred and forty members of the Association, They work in twenty-two economic sectors and are represented in 22 sectoral specialized committees.
The celebration focused on strengthening trade and economic ties between Egypt and the countries of the African continent, as the successes of the past year were highlighted amid an in-depth analysis of the progress achieved in strengthening trade and economic ties between Egypt and the countries of the African continent. The celebration embodied concrete discussions on investment opportunities and joint cooperation in various fields, including industry, trade, and financial services, with a prominent focus on the achievements achieved and drawing up ambitious future plans.
El-SharKawi reviewed the association’s work journey over the past three years, the results and challenges, the ambitious vision and goals, and how to overcome the challenges they faced since the idea of forming the association began five years ago, as well as the achievements and future plan for joint African action, as one of the leading entities in the African financial and business community, pointing out However, the beginning was difficult, due to the lack of a database on businesses and businessmen within the African market, in addition to the language factor due to the presence of many languages and dialects spoken in various African regions, and the difficulty of movement within the continent, but thanks to the effort and sincerity of the supporting bodies and members of all ages. Through their specializations and sincere desire to succeed, we were able to overcome these obstacles and succeeded in having the association have 19 strategic partners in various capitals and countries of the African continent.
El-Sharkawi added that after three years, the size of the association’s capital became the size of the business of the group of member companies and economic entities within the continent, which amounted to about $7 billion, especially after the giant Arab Contractors Company joined. Therefore, we can say: The journey of the Egyptian-African Businessmen Association is that bridge that A giant was born to form a starting point for joint African action and shorten the distances for the African financial and business community. Today, it is working to implement two giant projects that will begin work in the near future, to serve all the people of our continent.
The first is to implement the interest and directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to transfer the Francophone University of Senghor from its current location in Mansheya, Alexandria, to Borg El Arab, within a year, where about 200 male and female students are graduated annually with master’s degrees from cadres from 33 countries from various French-speaking countries on the African continent and Haiti, and the second is the inauguration of An effective export initiative to African Cairo, activating Ben-African trade, localizing some industries in various African countries near areas of raw material production, and working to deliver Egyptian medicine to many countries of the African continent that need this medicine.
El-Shorokawi explained that during the past, the association organized a number of forums and seminars, in addition to 5 delegations that included 150 African businessmen who visited the industrial castles in Egypt, especially in the Mahalla region, to learn about what is new in the Egyptian insulation and textile industry. In addition to the above, a number of economic forums were organized, and the beginning was At the Egyptian-Nigerian Businessmen Forum, which was held in Cairo, in which 140 Nigerian businessmen participated, led by 3 local ministers. A number of virtual seminars and meetings were also organized in which more than 1,400 speakers from all countries of the continent, including specialists and businessmen, participated, to learn about economic opportunities. It was also organized Hundreds of B2B meetings between business owners from different countries of the continent.
For his part, former Minister of Manpower, Mohamed Saafan, praised the efforts of the Egyptian state in dealing with the African file, stressing that Egyptian-African relations witnessed a major boom during the era of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, as he came a long way in these relations during Egypt’s presidency of the African Union,
He said: Egypt gives unprecedented attention and priority to all African countries in its foreign policy, and has succeeded in