African leaders, government officials and business executives are expected to converge on Egypt on Friday for a major business summit aimed at deepening trade, investment and economic cooperation across the continent.
The inaugural three-day Alamein Africa Forum, scheduled to hold in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, is expected to attract more than 20 heads of state and government representatives, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.
The summit is part of Egypt’s renewed efforts to strengthen its economic and diplomatic influence in Africa, amid growing competition from China and Gulf countries, particularly the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt has increasingly sought to expand its engagement with African countries after years of concentrating largely on the Middle East and Mediterranean region.
Egypt’s Deputy Foreign Minister for African Affairs, Mohamed Abu Bakr Saleh, described the gathering as an African platform designed to promote partnerships across the continent.
“This is an African platform,” Saleh said, stressing that countries from different parts of Africa should be able to use the forum to establish business and investment partnerships.
According to him, the forum is expected to become a biennial event under an African Union mandate, with discussions focusing on infrastructure, trade, agriculture, healthcare, mining, technology and renewable energy.
Egyptian officials estimate the country’s investments across Africa at about $14 billion. One of its major projects is Tanzania’s $3 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project, constructed by a consortium led by Egyptian companies.
The summit comes against the backdrop of concerns over Africa’s relatively low level of intra-continental trade and investment.
Trade among African countries stood at about $192 billion in 2023, representing roughly 15 per cent of the continent’s total trade, compared with more than 55 per cent in Asia and over 70 per cent in Europe.
Africa also attracted approximately $70 billion in foreign direct investment in 2025, a relatively small share of the estimated $1.6 trillion invested globally, according to the United Nations.
Saleh said the continent needed to do more to harness its natural and economic resources.
“Africa possesses vast resources, but they are still not being exploited to the level we would like to see,” he said.
The Alamein forum will also take place amid the longstanding dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the River Nile.
Ethiopia maintains that the dam is crucial to its economic development, while Egypt has repeatedly expressed concerns that its operation could affect the country’s Nile water supplies without a binding agreement.
More than a decade of negotiations between the two countries has yet to produce a settlement.
Reaffirming Cairo’s position, Saleh said Egypt’s concerns over its water security remained unchanged, describing the issue as “existential” for the country.
The forum is expected to provide an avenue for African governments and private-sector players to explore investment opportunities and partnerships in key sectors of the continent’s economy.
