Qalaa Holdings, Egypt-based African leader in infrastructure and industry, and Egyptian Chemicals and Fertilizers Export Council (CEC) have signed Saturday a memorandum of understanding to establish a railway line in Kenya. When the Kenyan railway line is completed, the volume of trade between Egypt and Africa is expected to jump, said CEC chairman Khaled Abu El Makarem. The line aims to ease hurdles faced by Egyptian exporters during shipping their products to the African markets, Abu El Makarem told reporters on the sidelines of the African international business forum kicked off in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh on Saturday. Egypt is hosting between 20th and 21st February Africa 2016, the first international business and investment forum of its kind, an Africa to Africa investment forum aimed at strengthening business ties within Africa, both at a business and presidential level. "It gives me a great honour and pleasure to host Africa 2016 Forum," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a welcome message posted on the business forum's official website. "It's a landmark platform that will bring together a wide range of the foremost political and business leaders in Africa and across the world to discuss ways of enhancing pan African international trade and investment and promoting business climate with a major focus on the role of the private sector." Some 1,500 delegates from Africa and the world are attending, with a focus on the energy, ICT, financial services, trade, agribusiness, and health care and pharmaceuticals sectors. Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari and Sudan's Omar al-Bashir are among the African presidents who will attend the international business forum. The Forum was initiated, and is spearheaded, by the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD), the development arm of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
