Egypt plans to hold its annual international meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh with African and global political and business leaderships to push for a new intra-African comprehensive partnership. Under the auspices of High Patronage of H.E. Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, Africa Forum will kick off on December 7-9. This year's edition will serve as an integral platform for unlocking Africa's sustainable development and transformation. Plenary discussions at the forum will explore Africa's emerging opportunities to tap into new pools of capitals, especially in areas of infrastructure, financial, entrepreneurial, energy, trade, and ICT as well as emerging projects. Organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and the COMESA Regional Investment Agency (RIA), the forum has so far attracted more than 3,000 registered delegates representing a wide range of disciplines across Africa and the globe, including young entrepreneurs. Under the rubric “Bold Leadership and Collective Commitment: Enhancing African Environmental Investments,” the forum's sessions will cover various pressing topics, namely digital transformation, innovation for a better world, access to fair competition, investment security in COMESA, building sustainable business models to promote investments. It will provide unparalleled opportunities for the world's most influential economic players, entrepreneurs, innovators with the Egyptian government making strides as a gateway for investment in the African continent. Africa 2018 Forum will also offer a panel to feature the voice of the private sector discussing how to balance the economic imperatives of governance with the political, the national dialogue within a global framework and how they see the priorities for Africa in the next decade. Taking over the chair of the African Union in 2019, Egypt will intensify efforts to ensure the realization of the continent's reform plan for the year 2063. Egypt is keen on achieving effective cooperation between African countries to achieve comprehensive economic and social development The forum's agenda for this year includes "Young Entrepreneurs Day" (YED) that provides a comprehensive platform to support entrepreneurs as well as their innovative ideas that can create unconventional solutions for African countries' crisis. YED gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet variable investors and to enhance their skills through YED's special workshops, designed by advisors and leaders specialized in their field. It also includes "Women Empowering Africa Day" (WEA) that will call for a greater role for African women in building the economic and social development of their countries. With the participation of international finance leaders as well as heads of regional and international finance institutions, the forum will also focus on displaying new funding mechanisms for investing in the infrastructure, financing large capital investments in Africa. It will work on discovering new ways for improving the relationships among banks.
