Egypt’s Minister of Social Solidarity, Nevine El-Qabbaj, and Senegal’s Minister of Microfinance and Social and Solidarity Economy, Alyone Diop, met in Cairo to discuss cooperation in social investment to increase employment opportunities for women and youth.
The Saturday meeting, held at the Ministry of Social Solidarity’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, was also attended by Senegal’s Ambassador to Cairo, Kimoco Jacquet, and other officials from both countries.
El-Qabbaj highlighted the Egyptian government’s commitment to deepening cooperation with Senegal and other African countries, particularly in the areas of social economy and economic empowerment. She emphasised the importance of production cooperatives as a mechanism for achieving equitable development and increasing employment opportunities for women and youth.
The Egyptian minister outlined Egypt’s efforts to achieve sustainable development and combat multidimensional poverty through a comprehensive strategy that integrates social protection programs with economic empowerment initiatives.
The work team from the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Nasser Social Bank presented their experiences in various fields, including micro-projects, productive family projects, and rural women’s development projects.
The two ministers discussed potential partnerships between Egyptian and Senegalese cooperatives, particularly in the furniture, handicrafts, printing, and paper sectors. Diop praised Egypt’s leadership in serving African interests and expressed interest in learning from Egypt’s experiences in social protection and micro-projects.
The Senegalese minister highlighted the importance of microfinance in social development and the role of the social and solidarity economy in combating poverty.
He emphasised the need to integrate young people and women who fall outside traditional financing circles into the economy. Diop also highlighted Senegal’s experiences in supply chain and value chain projects and the potential for cooperation with Egypt in developing simple and medium-sized handicrafts.
At the end of the meeting, both ministers reaffirmed their commitment to promoting bilateral development cooperation, exchanging experiences, and exploring the possibility of implementing joint projects and opening markets in Senegal for Egyptian heritage products.
