African leaders meeting at a business summit in Egypt called on Saturday for the continent to draw more on its own financial resources to fund development and to rely less on outside financing.
The call came at the first Alamein Africa Forum, a three-day gathering on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast that opened on Friday. It has brought together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives, along with business executives, bankers and development lenders.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told delegates that private companies are the main engine of African economies, generating more than 70% of gross domestic product. He said, however, that African firms still trade far more with partners outside the continent than with each other, with about 85% of private-sector transactions conducted abroad. The forum, he said, is meant to help businesses find opportunities and form partnerships closer to home.
Delegates cited trade data to make the case for deeper integration. Trade between African countries reached about $220 billion in 2024, or 14.4% of the continent’s total, after growing 12.4% that year following a 5.9% fall in 2023.
Kenya used the event to promote itself as an investment destination. Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi pointed to President William Ruto’s role in advancing the African Continental Free Trade Area and urged closer cooperation between governments and private companies. He also called for better regional financial integration and cross-border infrastructure, and said rising trade and geopolitical tensions required a joint economic response.
Organisers said the forum will be held every two years under an African Union mandate, covering infrastructure, trade, farming, health care, mining, technology and renewable energy. Officials put Egyptian investments across Africa at about $14 billion.
The summit is part of Cairo’s effort to rebuild its influence in Africa after years of focus on the Middle East and the Mediterranean, at a time when China and Gulf states, notably the United Arab Emirates, have expanded their presence on the continent. Egypt is also seeking wider African support in its dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Cairo says the dam could threaten its share of Nile water without a binding agreement on how it is run, while Ethiopia says the project is essential to its development.
