Egypt has not yet benefited from its trade agreements with Africa, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Amr Nassar, said on Tuesday.
“Africa’s imports from Egypt represent only 1% of the continent’s total imports from all over the world, which is very low and does not commensurate with the trade agreements signed between Egypt and many African countries,” Nassar stated during his participation in the Foreign Trade Bridges Conference for Central and Eastern African Markets.
He pointed out that the volume of Egyptian exports to Africa should be increased to reach 3-4% of the continent’s imports in the coming period.
“Egypt’s trade exchange with Africa should be improved through developing the freight transport in the continent, which is one of the big challenges the Egyptian products face in Africa, especially in light of the fierce competition with the major powers in the global trading system,” Nassar said.
He explained that the low supply of goods and the long time to export to Africa are the biggest problems that hinder Egyptian exports to Africa, pointing out that Egypt should build Egyptian warehouses continentwide, provide direct shipping, and expand in marketing to identify the opportunities available in Africa.
He revealed that the ministry is currently negotiating with major companies in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Russia to enter their products to the African market.
He noted that this cooperation will contribute to attracting new investments from these countries to Egypt, and they will benefit from the value-added to their products and from the Egyptian-African trade agreements in addition to the direct shipping.
Nassar added that the ministry seeks to support African countries in the industrial field through establishing industrial bases on their territories benefiting from the Egyptian expertise, especially in the field of manufacturing industries, as well as assembling some Egyptian products in their markets and help them to access new foreign markets.
