Egypt is set to host the annual meetings of the African Caucus of the World Bank (WB) Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Sunday and Monday. The meetings will be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el Sheikh, under the patronage of Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli, with 40 countries participating. The meetings are organized by the investment and international cooperation and finance ministries, in cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). Ministers of Investment and International Cooperation and Finance Sahar Nasr and Mohamed Maeit respectively will chair the annual meetings of the African Group, in the presence of representatives of the major international institutions, the Investment Ministry said in a statement on Friday. The meetings will bring together a number of international cooperation and finance ministers, as well as governors of central banks, along with high level officials from the WB and the IMF, the statement said. The investment minister said Egypt's hosting of these meetings comes within the framework of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's directives to support issues related to the African continent at all international gatherings. She further asserted that Egypt will exert utmost effort to back interests and priorities of the African development plan during her chairmanship of the African Caucus for 2018, the statement added. For his part, the finance minister said that hosting the international conference reflected the deeply-rooted ties between Egypt and African countries. The Egyptian-African relations have witnessed unprecedented development over the past few years, mainly after Egypt's membership in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), she added. He asserted Egypt's keenness on engaging in the development efforts of the African continent and boosting economic ties with African countries.
