Alaa Farouk, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, and Sherif El-Gabaly, Chairperson of the African affairs committee in the House of Representatives, co-chaired a high-level meeting to discuss strategies for expanding Egyptian agricultural investments across Africa. The meeting was also attended by Hesham Hosary, Chairperson of the House's agriculture committee, and Abdelsalam El-Gabaly, Chairperson of the Senate's agriculture committee. Farouk emphasized the importance of implementing President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi's directives to strengthen cooperation with African nations, particularly in agriculture. He underscored that enhancing agricultural partnerships would contribute to shared food security and long-term economic ties between Egypt and other African countries. The Minister highlighted that many African countries hold significant untapped potential, offering fertile ground for investment in strategic and economically vital crops. These opportunities, he noted, would serve the mutual interests of Egypt and its continental partners. During the meeting, participants explored the development of a scalable model for agricultural investment applicable in multiple African countries. Key criteria for selecting target markets included political stability, the quality of agricultural land, water availability, transport infrastructure, and access to resources. Several investment models were reviewed, with a consensus reached to prepare a comprehensive feasibility study identifying priority countries. This study will assess the potential for investment facilitation, risk mitigation, and the level of support available to investors. A shortlist of countries will be selected in the initial phase, based on transparent and protective criteria. The meeting also concluded with an agreement to engage business leaders and investors in the next stage. The goal is to introduce these investment models and promote public-private partnerships, supported by national banks, to drive agricultural development in Africa. This session builds on prior coordination between the Ministry of Agriculture and the African affairs committee to advance Egyptian agricultural interests on the continent. It included a recommendation to form a permanent committee dedicated to studying and monitoring agricultural investment opportunities in Africa.
