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Ministers of planning, education attend business forum at BUE Qalaa Holdings' managing director discusses potential for economic cooperation between Egypt and the countries of sub-Saharan Africa
A business forum held at the British University in Egypt (BUE) was attended by government ministers, including Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar and Minister of Planning Hala Al-Saeed, along with leading members of the business community. Karim Sadek, managing director at Qalaa Holdings, participated in a panel discussion that addressed challenges and opportunities for investors in Africa. During his speech, Sadek said that Egypt understands the development priorities of African states and is grappling with similar challenges, such as meeting infrastructure needs and catering to an expanding and young population. He added that there is no denying that there are significant challenges associated with investing in Africa, but the long-term fundamentals, which include readily available resources, improved governance, and the world's largest working-age population, mean that there are also very real opportunities, particularly when it comes to the energy and infrastructure sectors. Sadek went on to note that the annual infrastructure deficit in Africa today stands at more than $93bn, of which $17bn per year is needed to redress the existing efficiency gap in power generation. Tracing back to its roots as a leading African private equity investor, Qalaa has been directly investing in Africa since 2006 with a number of its investments originating in African economies other than Egypt.
