Egypt’s President and Chair of African Union Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi defined four axes of development in Africa, in his speech before the UK-Africa Investment Summit on Monday.
The summit is a new addition to the international efforts to support development in African countries, the president added.
The first axis of development is intensifying infrastructure, such as Cairo-Cape Town road project which aims to link the north of Africa with the south, renewable energy projects, and regional railways.
“Despite the enormity of challenges and their intertwined effects on the African continent, I can say that there are promising and diversified opportunities for the continent’s partners, which makes Africa one of the most important destinations for international business institutions,” Al-Sisi said.
African countries welcome all countries willing to invest in the continent, including the UK, he added.
The second axis is activating African free trade agreement that will help attracting foreign investments. The third axis is supporting the private sector as one of the important components of growth. The fourth is empowering youth and women and providing job opportunities to achieve social stability.
Al-Sisi expressed willingness to establish serious partnerships with all world partners, including the UK, based on cooperative frameworks, to work out ways to promote trade on a more equitable basis, including opening British markets for African products, providing international financing to support small and medium-sized enterprises in the continent, and raising the quality of industrial and service production.
Moreover, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat discussed the possibility of cooperation between the CDC Group – a development finance institution owned by the UK government – and the private sector in Egypt, on the sidelines of the UK-Africa Summit.
The Summit brought together UK and African business representatives, African leaders and delegations, international institutions, and young entrepreneurs, in order to secure investment deals and showcase the UK’s expertise to ambitious African firms.
It will also set the UK as the partner of choice for Africa and the investor with the biggest impact, in terms of quality jobs, growth, and sustainability. At the Summit, new investment deals between Egypt and the UK will be announced in strategic sectors, including healthcare, education, energy, and manufacturing, according to a statement from the British embassy in Egypt.
