There is no substitute for taking a model of regional integration in Africa, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said to African leaders on Monday during the African Union (AU) Summit currently being held in Rwanda. During a closed session for African leaders, al-Sisi said that this is not only due to historical aspects and human relations that connect African nations, but due to the practical necessities where African economic development needs coordinated efforts on a regional and continent level, executing specific set plans and established on dividing work between African countries. According to the Egyptian president, such a strategy would reflect positively on the appeal of African markets for investments, therefore leading to consistent rates of economic growth. El-Sisi also stressed in a speech during discussions held on presidential level the importance of finding ways to increase available resources to execute projects according to the frame of the first ten year plan of the African 2063 Development Agenda. In a speech during informal presidential talks, al-Sisi pointed at the importance of finding methods to promote the contribution of member states in financing the activities of the African Union, taking into account the economic conditions of African countries in order to accomplish an 'African Ownership' strategy and ensure no obtrusion on the eligibility of the African continent to formulate its objectives and priorities. During a closed session meeting Sunday, Egypt's al-Sisi discussed the importance of having an African free trade area, stating that Egypt was looking forward to the success of the talks and hinting at the previous summit success of the three African economic regional free trade areas: the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Southern African Development Community and the Eastern African Community. A vision for the free trade area will be up for discussion in the upcoming summit set to be held in Ethiopia's Addis Ababa in January 2017. source: Ahram Online
