The British Trade Commissioner for Africa, Emma Wade-Smith, concluded a four-day visit to Egypt that focused on expanding the trade and investment links between the UK, Egypt and the whole African continent, as well as supporting young entrepreneurs.
It is Wade-Smith’s first visit to Egypt since she took office, which was created in June 2018, to foster the UK’s trade and investment links across Africa.
The UK is committed to supporting entrepreneurship in Egypt, through an EGP 47m programme to support social enterprise. Wade-Smith was a keynote speaker at Flat6Labs Demo Day in Cairo, where she highlighted the importance of small businesses in creating economic opportunities and jobs.
During her visit, she met with the Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El-Molla, as they discussed under-construction petrochemical and refinery projects financed by the UK. Wade-Smith was a keynote speaker at the Africa 2018 Forum and the Intra-African Trade Fair during her stay.
“The UK is proud to be working with Egypt and across Africa to invest in strategic and job-creating sectors that will let economies thrive. Investing in young people and enterprise is at the heart of this, and we have seen in Egypt how bringing together UK expertise and Egyptian talent has yielded fantastic results,” said Wade-Smith.
“Across Africa, we are working to build partnerships and collaborations between the UK and other countries, and between the public and the private sector, as we work towards our aim of becoming the largest G7 investor in Africa by 2022,” she added.
