Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting to review some proposals that would contribute to increasing trade exchange with African countries. At the beginning of the meeting, the Prime Minister referred to the ongoing directives of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to the government, emphasizing the importance of working to strengthen the Egyptian presence in Africa and supporting various cooperation frameworks in the continent in different fields, in a way that contributes to achieving common interests and strengthening relations. During the meeting, Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmed Samir reviewed several indicators of the current Egyptian presence in the African market, noting that the volume of Egyptian exports to the continent during the period from January to October of this year reached approximately EGP 6bn, with an increase rate of about 13%. The minister added that marble, cement, polyethylene, and phosphate fertilizers are among the most important Egyptian exports to the continent. Regarding the COMESA bloc, Samir explained that Egypt is currently one of the most important economic powers within COMESA, and plays an important role in achieving more economic integration among the member countries. He also said that Egypt pays great attention to participating in various technical events and meetings that are held. Egypt accounts for the largest share of the volume of intra-trade within COMESA, as the trade exchange between Egypt and the bloc reached its highest levels in 2022, reaching $4.3bn, Samir disclosed. He listed the commercial services offices in Africa, explaining that there are 15 commercial representation offices across the continent, which support and enhance trade cooperation between various countries. The Minister of Trade and Industry disclosed the measures that were taken to inventory various assets owned by El-Nasr Export & Import at home and abroad, and to develop an integrated action plan to optimally exploit these assets. During the meeting, Samir presented the proposed mechanisms for establishing integrated Egyptian commercial centers in Africa, explaining that the plan of the Ministry of Trade and Industry in this regard depends on exploiting the assets owned by El-Nasr company in several African countries to establish Egyptian commercial centers there, starting with three main African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, and Côte d'Ivoire. The Minister explained that for Kenya, it is planned to exploit a plot of land owned by El-Nasr company in the capital, Nairobi, on an area of 2,100 sqm, to establish an Egyptian Logistics Center for Storage and Handling Services for Egyptian Exports, to provide the current goods for construction projects of building materials, as well as fast-consumer goods, including packaging materials, food industries, medical supplies, and hotel supplies. For Tanzania, Samir revealed the ministry's plan to establish an Egyptian commercial center in the city of Dar es Salaam, with affiliated warehouses to provide the current Egyptian goods, which is the best model for dealing with the Tanzanian market, provided that Egyptian products are supplied to these markets at appropriate and competitive prices to create long-term commercial partnerships. The minister concluded that the ministry plans to exploit one of the assets owned by El-Nasr company in Côte d'Ivoire to establish an Egyptian commercial center, provided that development will be in two phases: the first includes an exhibition hall for Egyptian products and their storage places. The second is to build places that sell heritage gifts and Egyptian food restaurants, especially if the goal is to provide current Egyptian goods that will be available to importers in Côte d'Ivoire.
