Cairo in Nov22, 2021
Dr. Yousrey Elsharkawi, International Investment Adviser and chairman of the Egyptian-African Businessmen Association welcomed Egypt’s readiness to host the 21st COMESA Summit as heads of states and governments of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. for the African continent. Which was fully reflected in the form and performance of the Egyptian-African rapprochement, and that the African man in the street perceives this role and trusts in the ability of the Egyptian state and its leadership to reformulate the African model in fair cooperation with all strategic partners, foremost of which is COMESA.
Elsharkawi pointed out that the economic importance of the COMESA gathering is limited to increasing the volume of trade cooperation, increasing the volume of exports, diversifying the source countries for the primary product and creating the closest alternative to primary commodities and raw materials so that they will be different in African markets instead of other markets, and the economic dimension can be achieved with the COMESA countries as the readings confirm The markets of the COMESA countries have export opportunities for Egyptian products amounting to at least 3.5 billion dollars by 2030 in addition to the current situation of 3 billion dollars, which represents 60% of the volume of Egyptian trade exchange with the African continent
Elsharkawi stressed his call to the private sector men to take advantage of this opportunity and that hosting this summit will open the way for opportunities in an unprecedented way, and that we can still export to only five of the 21 countries in COMESA, at a rate of 94%, or 2.5 billion dollars, which are (Libya – Kenya – Ethiopia – Sudan – Tunisia) and that the goods that have export opportunities in the COMESA markets are sugar of all kinds – phosphate and ozone fertilizers and some specialized agricultural crops, in addition to electrical appliances and ready-made clothes
On the other hand, Elsharkawi stressed the need to work on enhancing imports from the COMESA countries, as there are many raw materials and commodities in the COMESA countries that we need in Egypt, and this is the best, best and most appropriate way to penetrate many markets, increase exports and strengthen the Egyptian presence
Elsharkawi referred to the Egyptian government’s efforts to enhance trade exchange with the African side, including supporting all the activities and activities of the inter-trade agreement, with the implementation of the Bridges Program for Arab and African trade, providing incentives and bearing the burdens of African freight, and then taking many measures to solve transport problems such as establishing the Cairo-Cape roads Town, as well as working on developing African ports and promoting the idea of cooperation in establishing logistical zones in some coastal countries to serve assemblies of countries trapped in COMESA.
Regarding what the private sector in the COMESA countries are asking of this upcoming meeting, Elsharkawi expressed the role of supporting expansion in ending financial inclusion and digital transformation, and government support for small and micro enterprises to transform digitally and open the way for other emerging companies to work in the field of financial services and information technology, as well as the need to focus On the manufacturing industries and the expansion of agricultural and food manufacturing and animal production projects, with the need for concerted efforts to address illegal trade, save and implement commercial laws, unify regulations and set standards among member states.
We also need to expand the exchange of services in the fields of health care and public health services, facilitating registration of drug trade and transportation between COMESA countries, as well as working to support the role of women in entrepreneurship and small projects and opening opportunities for women entrepreneurs in the COMESA countries, and finally removing obstacles effectively Regarding government tariffs, fees of origin and mutual recognition between countries