A delegation of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), led by Khaled Sherif, the vice-president of regional development, integration, and business delivery at the bank, is visiting Egypt for a dialogue with the Egyptian authorities. The scheduled meetings include continuing the discussions on the establishment of a guarantee investment fund to promote Egyptian investment in Sub-Saharan Africa, as announced by Al-Sisi at the Africa 2018 Forum in Sharm El-Sheikh in December. The mission will also promote the second African Investment Forum, scheduled for November 2019 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to ensure Egyptian companies seize the opportunity to mobilise private capital for Egypt and the whole continent. The mission is set to conclude its four-day dialogue visit on Thursday. The dialogue aims to reinforce the bank's support for Egypt and President Al-Sisi, who took up the chairpersonship of the 55-member African Union (AU) at the summit of the AU earlier this year. The mission came after a February meeting between President Al-Sisi and the AfDB's President, Akinwumi Adesina, on the side-lines of the AU Summit in Addis Ababa. Sherif, who was also present at the meeting, was asked to continue the dialogue in Egypt this week. The main objective of this week's meetings is to show the bank's support for Egypt's agenda under its chairpersonship of the AU, in particular with respect to the Continental Free Trade Agreement and regional integration. The mission also intends to discuss deepening the AfDB's support for Egypt's national priorities for continued growth and employment in the energy and sanitation sectors, as well as in higher education. Noteworthy, the bank has financed over 125 projects worth $6.5bn since starting operations in Egypt in 1974. Bank's investments are in infrastructural development sectors such as transport, power, water supply, sanitation, agriculture, communications, finance, industry and social sectors, as well as economic and institutional reforms and capacity building.The bank has a portfolio of 30 operations in Egypt, valued at $2.9bn.
