The announcement came on Thursday during a high-level panel discussion on enhancing economic integration in Africa through South-South and tripartite cooperation as part of the annual meetings of the African Development Bank in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The panel discussion was chaired by Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat and the Executive Director of the African Union Development Agency (NEPAD) Nardos Bekele-Thomas, according to a statement by the ministry.

In her speech, Al-Mashat emphasized that cooperation between countries of the global South can advance development.

Egypt deals with all development partners, including multilateral and bilateral partners, and has a development cooperation portfolio worth $26 billion in all sectors, Al-Mashat noted.

The minister added that knowledge and experience from this portfolio can be exchanged with African countries.

Al-Mashat also discussed the role of the ministry in promoting South-South cooperation through the renewed launch of the Academy of South-South Cooperation between countries in 2021.

The Academy of South-South Cooperation is the first integrated institutional framework in the Middle East and Africa to support development efforts in the region, she explained.