Egypt committed to strengthening partnerships with African nations: El-Shimy
Mohamed El-Shimy, Minister of the Public Enterprises Sector, held a series of high-level bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the 17th US-Africa Business Summit, currently taking place in Luanda, Angola, from 22 to 25 June. El-Shimy is participating as Egypt's official representative, accompanied by Nevine El-Husseiny, Egypt's Ambassador to Angola, as part of Cairo's ongoing efforts to deepen economic cooperation with African countries.
During his meeting with Esperança da Costa, Vice President of Angola, both sides reaffirmed the strength of historic ties between Egypt and Angola and discussed avenues for expanding cooperation in key priority sectors. The meeting also highlighted the significance of the summit as a forum for dialogue between governments and the private sector, particularly as Angola holds the presidency of the African Union this year and celebrates 50 years of independence.
El-Shimy also met with several African ministers and senior officials attending the summit, including Rui de Oliveira, Angola's Minister of Industry and Trade; Isaac Francisco, Minister of Agriculture; Sílvia Paula, Minister of Health; and Armando Manuel, Chairperson of Angola's Sovereign Wealth Fund. Other key meetings included discussions with Julien Paluku, Minister of Trade of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Karim Zaidan, Morocco's Minister of Investment; and Mohamed Arkab, Algeria's Minister of Energy.
The talks focused on boosting cooperation between Egypt and these countries in various fields including investment, joint industrial ventures, and trade exchange—contributing to deeper regional economic integration and advancing sustainable development objectives.
El-Shimy stressed that Egypt, under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, attaches great importance to enhancing partnerships with African nations on the basis of mutual interests and regional unity. He noted that the Ministry of Public Enterprises Sector is working actively to expand collaboration with African counterparts, especially in strategic productive sectors.
He added that these engagements align with Egypt's broader strategy to open new markets for Egyptian companies across the continent, facilitate the transfer of industrial and technological expertise, and foster joint ventures with both public and private sector partners in African states.
El-Shimy concluded by highlighting the wide-ranging opportunities available for cooperation across multiple sectors and reiterated the importance of the summit as a key platform for direct interaction between government leaders and private sector stakeholders across Africa.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al-Ahram Weekly
21 minutes ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
The aftermath of the 12-day war
What will likely be the short- and long-term impacts of the US intervention in the Israeli military offensive against Iran, asks Al-Ahram Weekly The next few days are expected to be crucial in assessing the sustainability of the ceasefire that US President Donald Trump announced in the early hours of Tuesday, a few hours after Iran launched limited and casualty-free attacks on US military bases in Qatar and Iraq. The fact that it only took a few hours for the ceasefire to be breached, as Trump said, by both sides, undermined hopes for this most recent chapter in regional instability to be closed, as some Cairo-based and Egyptian diplomats said on Tuesday afternoon. Acknowledging the breaches, Trump said that he was 'unhappy' with both Iran and Israel but particularly with Israel. He added that he had told Israel 'do not drop these bombs' on Iran. Both Iran and Israel said that they had not started the breaches in the ceasefire. But both said they would retaliate. However, the Israeli press reported that at the demand of Trump during a telephone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Israel had decided to scale down its attacks. An informed Egyptian source said that both Oman and Qatar had been stressing to Tehran the need to shrug off the upcoming Israeli strikes as insignificant and to refrain from retaliating in return for some accommodating statement from Washington. Effectively, Trump said that Israel should not have conducted the attack that hit the north of Iran on Tuesday afternoon. According to the source, the basis of the ceasefire deal, 'which was negotiated through back channels with the help of the Qataris and the Omanis,' was for Iran and Israel to almost simultaneously suspend their tit-for-tat strikes. Iran, he said, was asked to stop 'just a few hours earlier'. But 'Netanyahu will try to keep up the sorties against Iran for as long as he can. He will only stop when he feels that Trump's patience is wearing thin,' the source said. This chapter of regional tensions started on 13 June, when Israel hit Iranian nuclear and military facilities and individuals in what opened a 12-day trade of attacks with missiles and drones that continued until the US bombed three key Iranian nuclear facilities on 20 June. On Monday evening, Iran launched missiles at US facilities in Qatar and Iraq, later expressing regret for its attack on the Al-Udeid US military base in Qatar, according to an official statement from Doha. 'Neither the US nor Iran wants to be engaged in a confrontation for much longer,' said Ahmed Morsy, a visiting fellow at the Middle East Council in Qatar. He said that the regime in Tehran is well aware that 'it cannot put up for long' with a military confrontation with the US. He added that Trump's decision to attack Iranian nuclear facilities was not the result of a consensus within the American establishment. The fact that Trump ordered the attacks without Congressional authorisation makes it mandatory for any act of war to be contained. 'Had it not been for the lobbying that Netanyahu exercised, Trump would have preferred to give diplomacy a chance and work for a deal with Iran on its nuclear programme, which was far from being impossible,' Morsy said. 'Iran too was seriously negotiating for a deal.' With the current settling of scores, Morsy said, both the Americans and the Iranians will want to move forward towards resuming negotiations for a nuclear deal. 'The trouble now is Israel. Netanyahu, who might be suffering from his multiple wars, may not wish to end the confrontation with Iran, despite the damage that Iranian missiles have inflicted on Israel, before either getting a regime change in Tehran or making this change one or two steps away,' he added. Morsy said that since the assassination of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut in September last year, and the previous and subsequent elimination of other leaders of Hizbullah and Hamas, Netanyahu has been moving ahead with the plan that he has been openly talking about for some time — change across the Middle East. During the past year and a half, Netanyahu has gone a long way in securing a crucial element of this plan, Morsy said, namely the elimination of the resistance camp that was headed and managed by Iran. Today, he argued, there are two key questions. The first is about the time that Netanyahu needs before he decides to really end the confrontation with Iran, especially as he has eliminated the core of Iran's top military leaders, 'notably those on the radical side,' and the scientists who stood behind Iran's nuclear programme. The second is what Netanyahu's second step will be in his plan to change the picture of the Middle East. 'It is obvious that this will be to displace the Palestinians from Gaza and to annex the West Bank,' Morsy said, territories that have been under the control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the mid-1990s after the launch of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace Process in the wake of the September 1993 signing of the Oslo Accords. According to Ayman Zaineldine, Egypt's former ambassador to Spain who has accumulated much first-hand experience of regional politics, any sound forecast of Netanyahu's next move will have to answer a key question: Which deal would give Netanyahu the image of a victorious leader? Zaineldine argued that it is an established fact that Netanyahu's ultimate goal is to stay in power in order to avoid litigation over claims of wrong-doing that could take him from the office of the prime minister to an Israeli jail. This means that Netanyahu needs to stay in power and come across as the one Israeli leader who has forced all the powers of resistance in the region to succumb. Already, he added, Netanyahu has gone a long way in achieving this objective. However, this does not mean that beyond the confrontation with Iran he will pursue regional policies that are less hostile. 'Netanyahu has been working on this target of [changing the dynamics in the Middle East] since he first came to power in 1996. Today, he will be deciding his next set of targets and will start working on them,' Zaineldine stated. He said that there is the obvious target of the displacement of the Palestinians both from Gaza and the West Bank — 'not an easy thing to deliver' despite possible US support. He added that even if Netanyahu just ends up reducing the Palestinians in Gaza to one quarter of the land and the Palestinians in the West Bank to one third of the land, he could still claim that he has successfully achieved his objective of reversing the negotiations that were put in place upon the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993. However, Zaineldine argued that even before moving on with his plan to displace the Palestinians from Gaza, Netanyahu 'has already created a regional situation in which Israel is perceived as a hard-to-deter power.' 'Much will depend on the regional and international political dynamics in the coming weeks and also on the political dynamics inside Israel and inside Netanyahu's own coalition, which seems today [to be overtaken by disagreements] and much weakened,' Zaineldine concluded. * A version of this article appears in print in the 26 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
37 minutes ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Egypt chief of staff, Libyan counterpart discuss deepening military cooperation
Lieutenant General Ahmed Khalifa, the chief of staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, met on Tuesday with visiting Lieutenant General Saddam Khalifa Haftar, the chief of staff of the Libyan Army's Ground Forces, and his accompanying delegation to discuss deepening military cooperation. General Hafter was received in an official ceremony at the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense's General Secretariat, where the military band played the national anthems of both countries. During their meeting, they discussed several issues of mutual interest and explored ways to strengthen cooperation between the armed forces of both countries in various military and security fields. The Egyptian chief of staff highlighted the deep historical ties between the two countries and their peoples, emphasizing Egypt and the Armed Forces' keenness to support the Libyan people and the Libyan Armed Forces. General Khalifa also stressed the importance of coordinating efforts to secure the borders, reduce irregular migration, and seek all possible mechanisms to control the security situation across all Libyan territories. For his part, the Libyan chief of staff affirmed the strong relations between Egypt and Libya, commending Egypt's ongoing efforts to establish regional security and stability. He expressed his aspiration to strengthen cooperation between the Egyptian and Libyan Armed Forces. Several other top Egyptian and Libyan Armed Forces commanders attended the meeting. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
See - Sada Elbalad
2 hours ago
- See - Sada Elbalad
UNRC in Egypt: Launch of 2025 Refugee Response Plan Reflects Egypt's Commitment to Global Compact on Refugees
Ahmed Emam The United Nations, in collaboration with the Egyptian government, launched the Egypt Refugee and Resilience Response Plan (ERRRP) 2025 on Tuesday during a high-level event held at the Marriott Hotel in Zamalek. The comprehensive initiative aims to address the needs of refugees, asylum-seekers, and host communities amid a growing regional humanitarian crisis. Speaking at the launch, the UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, Elena Panova, hailed the ERRRP as a milestone in Egypt's ongoing efforts to uphold the rights and dignity of displaced populations. 'This plan reflects not only Egypt's longstanding hospitality, but also its deep commitment to the Global Compact for Refugees,' Panova told a distinguished audience of ambassadors, UN officials, and government representatives. The ERRRP, co-led by UNHCR and UNDP and developed in close coordination with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, represents the first national response plan encompassing all refugees, asylum-seekers, third-country nationals, and affected host communities in Egypt. It is rooted in the principles of the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus and closely aligned with Egypt's national development agenda, including the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework 2023–2027. Egypt currently hosts an estimated 1.5 million Sudanese nationals who fled the conflict in their country, as well as nearly one million refugees and asylum-seekers registered with UNHCR from more than 62 countries. Panova underscored the scale of Egypt's role, referencing remarks made by Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty at the UN General Assembly, where he revealed that Egypt had become the third-largest recipient of asylum applications globally, hosting over 10 million migrants and refugees. Despite these mounting pressures, Panova acknowledged Egypt's inclusive approach, noting that refugees and migrants have access to national education and healthcare systems, even as these services face additional strain due to the country's economic challenges. 'Egypt's response has come at great national expense,' she said. 'The recently adopted National Asylum Law is a pivotal step toward establishing a legal framework that ensures protection, clarity, and improved access to essential services for refugees.' Panova emphasized that the burden of protecting displaced populations must not fall on Egypt alone, urging the international community to scale up support. 'This is the moment to share responsibility,' she said, calling on global partners to bolster funding and assistance for national systems, grassroots NGOs, and local actors who are closest to the communities in need. Highlighting the strategic goals of the ERRRP, Panova stressed the importance of strengthening national ownership, empowering refugees and host communities, and building sustainable and resilient systems to navigate protracted displacement. 'This Plan is more than an operational framework,' she concluded. 'It is a shared commitment—grounded in dignity, guided by solidarity, and fulfilled through collective action.' The launch marks a critical moment in Egypt's evolving role as a major host country for displaced populations, as well as a regional leader in aligning humanitarian response with long-term development and peacebuilding efforts. read more Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685 NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided News Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks News Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank News Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region News One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid News China Launches Largest Ever Aircraft Carrier Sports Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer Videos & Features Tragedy Overshadows MC Alger Championship Celebration: One Fan Dead, 11 Injured After Stadium Fall Lifestyle Get to Know 2025 Eid Al Adha Prayer Times in Egypt Business Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War Arts & Culture Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies News Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks Videos & Features Video: Trending Lifestyle TikToker Valeria Márquez Shot Dead during Live Stream News Shell Unveils Cost-Cutting, LNG Growth Plan Technology 50-Year Soviet Spacecraft 'Kosmos 482' Crashes into Indian Ocean
