Egypt will host the first forum for the heads of African investment authorities in the South Sinai resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh from 11 to 14 June, the cabinet announced on Monday.



Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly will inaugurate the forum, which will be held under the slogan “Integration for development."



Ministers and heads of investment authorities from 34 African countries as well as representatives of leading institutions and economic blocs will attend the forum.



Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones will sign a number of memoranda of understanding with its African counterparts to encourage investments, the cabinet's statement cited Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, the executive chief of the authority, as saying.



The memoranda will target enhancing investment relations and cooperation between Egypt and other African countries, Abdel-Wahab added.



Participants in the forum will coordinate between African investment authorities to help the continent become a stable and attractive destination for direct foreign investments, he said.



The action is also meant to help African countries ensure the optimum use of their vast natural resources and raise the competitiveness of their economies, he added.



Abdel-Wahab expressed the authority’s readiness to provide technical and data support and transfer experience in all technical and administrative aspects to African investment authorities.



These efforts seek to contribute to empowering African countries in the face of the negative implications of the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected investment flows to the continent, Abdel-Wahab explained.



The forum will see meetings between prominent Egyptian businessmen who are interested in investments in Africa and the heads of African investment authorities, the cabinet said.



The meetings will review investment opportunities, development plans, and mechanisms to attract investors to promising economic sectors, including in the fields of agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and energy.



They will also review ways to allocate the financing required to achieve sustainable development.



Egypt's ministers of electricity, foreign affairs, planning, international cooperation, health, transport, civil aviation, agriculture, and industry and other officials will speak during the forum, the cabinet noted.



The investment ministers of Sudan, South Sudan, and Tanzania are scheduled to deliver a speech.



Egypt has reiterated its keenness to provide all forms of support to African countries and renewed its commitment to ensuring the success of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which the country ratified in 2019.



Fadel Yacoub, the alternate chief negotiator to the AfCFTA, said in February that Egypt’s exports to African countries, estimated at $4.7 billion, are projected to double over the coming four years.

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