Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Amr Nassar had talks on Wednesday with a delegation from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on current projects carried out by the bank in Egypt.

The talks also discussed future projects to be implemented by the bank in Egypt and ways of enhancing joint cooperation in trade and industry across Africa.

The Chairman of the African Export-Import Bank, Benidet Urama, said that they have allocated $2 billion to Egypt's financing programs this year, of which $500 million is earmarked for small and medium-sized enterprises.

He added that the volume of Egypt's portfolio reached 18% of the bank's funding programs last year, amounting to $1.5 billion, of which $500 million was directed to the promotion of Egyptian-African trade, a program launched by the bank in 2015 aimed at supporting Egyptian trade and investment projects across the continent.

In a press statement, Nassar said that the file of joint cooperation between Egypt and other African countries is a top of priority of the ministry.

The ministry is seeking to boost trade and investment cooperation with other African countries, he added.

The meeting took up preparations for Egypt’s hosting of an African trade exhibition that will be held on December 11-17, the minister added.

Urama stressed that the financing of intra-African trade projects is the top priority of the bank during the current stage, pointing out that Egypt is one of the pivotal countries of the African trade system.