Eighty-five percent of African private-sector transactions involve companies outside the continent. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi put that figure at the center of the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum, held Oct. 2 to 4 over three days in the Mediterranean city of El-Alamein.
Around 1,500 African business leaders attended, alongside representatives of more than 20 heads of state and government. The Egyptian government, the African Export-Import Bank and the African Union Development Agency organized the gathering. Under an African Union mandate, it will return every two years.
Private Capital Takes the Lead
Sisi said the private sector accounts for more than 70 percent of Africa's gross domestic product. Yet African businesses remain more connected to overseas markets than to neighboring countries, he said. The forum, he explained, aims to help companies find opportunities closer to home and build partnerships across borders.
Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, chairperson of the African Union Commission, laid out the figures. Intra-African trade reached $220 billion in 2024, or 14.4 percent of the continent's trade. It rose 12.4 percent that year after falling 5.9 percent the year before. “Africa can do much better,” Youssouf said.
The forum covers infrastructure, trade, agriculture, healthcare, mining, technology and renewable energy. African leaders called for greater reliance on the continent's own capital and less dependence on external funding.
Deals on the Sidelines
Side meetings produced the forum's most concrete work. Egypt's General Authority for Investment and Free Zones, led by CEO Mohamed Awad and Executive Vice President Waleed Anwar, met with investment agencies, industrial companies and development institutions. Investment Minister Dr. Mohamed Farid Saleh took part in several sessions.
India's Motherson Group, a global maker of automotive and aerospace components, said it was assessing manufacturing opportunities in Egypt. Anwar described investment incentives and the Free Zone System for companies focused on exports. Awad met Algeria's investment promotion agency to discuss joint industrial ventures, and Afreximbank officials to discuss trade finance and export guarantees. Italy's export credit agency, SACE, discussed co-financing large infrastructure projects.
The Egypt-NEPAD figures tell a mixed story. Trade with Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa reached $1.1 billion in the first seven months of 2026, up from $1 billion a year earlier, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. Egyptian exports fell to $891 million from $901 million. Imports climbed to $167 million from $114 million. Investment by NEPAD countries in Egypt increased to $190.7 million in fiscal year 2024/2025 from $39 million the year before.
Cities, Cash and the Funding Gap
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told a plenary session Africa's urban population is projected to double by 2050. He argued that cities unable to handle heatwaves, floods or water scarcity won't attract investment. Then he made a key admission: governments alone cannot close the funding gap for infrastructure and housing. He called for partnerships between governments, the private sector and development finance institutions.
Madbouly pointed to Egypt's “fourth-generation cities,” including the New Administrative Capital, New Alamein and New Mansoura. He also cited Egyptian firms' work on Tanzania's Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant, Uganda's Saka bridge and Ghana's Winneba-Takoradi road. The government's 2025/26 fiscal plan sets a target of 310,000 new housing units, including 285,000 social housing units.
Officials put Egyptian investments in Africa at around $14 billion, including Tanzania's $3 billion hydropower project. Africanews reported that Egypt, long focused on the Middle East and Mediterranean, is shifting south as China and Gulf powers, particularly the United Arab Emirates, expand their presence. The summit also took place as Cairo seeks wider African backing in its dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Egypt says the dam's operation must follow a binding agreement. Ethiopia says the project is essential for economic development.
Why This Matters: The forum's figures show how far Africa still has to go. Intra-African trade makes up 14.4 percent of the continent's total, and Egypt's exports to four partner countries fell even as overall trade rose. Madbouly's admission that governments can't fund infrastructure and housing alone points to private and development-bank capital as the practical way forward. That makes predictable rules, export finance and investor incentives especially important—the very issues Egypt's investment officials raised in their meetings. For taxpayers, the Egyptian target of 310,000 housing units shows the scale of public commitments. Whether African markets can attract investment on commercial terms, as China and Gulf states expand their reach, will shape how much sovereignty the continent retains over its economic future.