CAIRO: African leaders argued for unlocking the continent’s capital at a business summit in Egypt on Saturday, saying Africa can “do much better” in financing its growth and reducing reliance on external funding.
The three-day gathering in Egypt’s Mediterranean city of El-Alamein brought together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.
Speaking at the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said Africa’s private sector remained the continent’s main economic engine, accounting for more than 70 percent of gross domestic product.
But he argued that African businesses were still more connected to markets outside the continent than to neighboring countries.
“Around 85 percent of African private-sector transactions are conducted with companies outside the continent,” he said, adding that the forum was intended to help African firms identify opportunities closer to home and build cross-border partnerships.
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union Commission, said progress had been made but Africa still had significant untapped potential.
“In 2024, intra-African trade reached $220 billion, accounting for 14.4 percent of our continent’s trade,” he told delegates.
Intra-African trade grew by 12.4 percent in 2024, rebounding from a 5.9 percent contraction the previous year.
He said this was encouraging but added that “Africa can do much better”.
The forum will become a biennial event under an African Union mandate, focusing on infrastructure, trade, agriculture, health care, mining, technology and renewable energy.
After long focusing on the Middle East and the Mediterranean, Egypt is increasingly turning south, seeking to reclaim influence in a continent where China and Gulf powers, especially the United Arab Emirates, have expanded their economic and political footprint.
Officials estimate Egyptian investments in Africa at around $14 billion, including Tanzania’s $3 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project.
The summit also comes as Egypt seeks broader African support in its long-running dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Cairo sees as a threat to its share of Nile waters.
Ethiopia says the dam, inaugurated last year, is essential for economic development, while Egypt argues that its operation should be governed by a binding agreement.
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