Around 1,500 African business leaders and more than 20 heads of state and government representatives attended the Alamein Africa Forum in Egypt. They called for greater use of African capital and stronger trade within the continent.
The three-day gathering ran from Oct. 2 to 4 in El-Alamein. The Egyptian government, the African Export-Import Bank and the African Union Development Agency organized it. Under an African Union mandate, the forum will become a biennial event.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the private sector accounts for more than 70 percent of Africa’s gross domestic product, yet African businesses remain 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. He described the forum as a way to help African firms find closer-to-home opportunities and develop cross-border partnerships.
The continental trade push
Intra-African trade reached $220 billion in 2024, equal to 14.4 percent of the continent’s trade, said Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union Commission. Trade grew by 12.4 percent that year, after contracting by 5.9 percent in the previous year. “Africa can do much better,” Youssouf said. The forum’s mandate covers infrastructure, trade, agriculture, healthcare, mining, technology and renewable energy.
Egypt’s General Authority for Investment and Free Zones held bilateral talks with investment agencies, industrial companies and development institutions. GAFI CEO Mohamed Awad and Executive Vice President Waleed Anwar led the engagements alongside Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Dr. Mohamed Farid Saleh. They discussed cross-border investment, industrial manufacturing and export corridors.
Awad met Omar Rekkache, Director General of the Algerian Investment Promotion Agency. They discussed joint industrial ventures between Egyptian and Algerian businesses, including combining production capacities and using regional trade agreements to reach sub-Saharan markets.
GAFI officials also met India’s Motherson Group, a manufacturer of automotive and aerospace components. Gautam Mangar, Head of Business Development at Motherson, said the company was evaluating manufacturing opportunities in Egypt. Awad cited Egypt’s qualified workforce and industrial capabilities. Anwar outlined investment incentives and the Free Zone System for companies targeting export markets.
Investment, finance and urban expansion
Awad and the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade met Haytham El Maayergi, Executive Vice President of the African Export-Import Bank. They discussed faster market access for Egyptian small and medium-sized enterprises, trade finance and export guarantees for cross-border supply chains, and support for technology startups seeking to expand across the continent.
Farid Saleh and Awad also met Ciro Aquino, Head of Middle East and Africa at SACE, Italy’s export credit agency. They set priorities for joint co-financing of infrastructure projects, the green-energy transition and digital innovation through Egyptian-Italian commercial ventures.
Egypt and the countries covered by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development recorded $1.1 billion in trade during the first seven months of 2026, up from $1 billion in the same period in 2025, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. Egyptian exports to those countries totaled $891 million, while imports reached $167 million. The countries covered were Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, alongside Egypt.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Africa’s urban population is projected to double by 2050. He called for cities to be treated as economic, social and environmental systems, and said urban growth should contribute to industrialization and job creation. Madbouly cited the New Administrative Capital, New Alamein and New Mansoura as examples of Egyptian urban planning. He also identified Egyptian infrastructure projects in Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana.
The state, private capital and the Nile dispute
Governments alone can’t close the funding gap for infrastructure and housing, Madbouly said. He called for partnerships among governments, the private sector and development finance institutions, and urged investment in sustainable urban infrastructure and affordable housing. Egypt’s 2025/26 fiscal plan targets 310,000 new housing units, including 285,000 for social housing.
Nardos Bekele-Thomas, CEO of the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, called for more investment across African countries, stronger intra-African trade and closer policy coordination. She said the forum would take place every two years. The private sector, she said, is a driver of growth and innovation and a partner in the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Officials estimate Egyptian investments in Africa at around $14 billion, including the $3 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project in Tanzania. The summit also took place as Egypt sought broader African support in its dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Cairo considers the dam a threat to its share of Nile waters and says its operation should be governed by a binding agreement. Ethiopia says the dam, inaugurated last year, is essential for economic development.