Egypt’s PM calls for supporting African nations amid food crisis, global challenges in TICAD 8 speech

CAIRO – 27 August 2022: Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli has called for supporting the African countries by providing them with stimulus packaging for their economies amid the food crisis and global challenges.

In remarks during the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8) on Saturday, Madbouli highlighted a number of economic challenges that severely affect the African continent.

Madbouli is participating in TICAD 8 summit held in Tunisia on behalf of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The premier is also scheduled to hold high-level meetings on the sidelines of the summit, which takes place on Saturday and Sunday.

 

During his speech, the Egyptian prime minister explained a number of axes that require joint coordination with the aim of taking immediate and effective steps to enhance the continent's efforts to achieve sustainable development.

The first axis affirms the importance of diversifying the sources of food imports and securing the continent’s supply chains, including by controlling prices, Madbouli said.

He also affirmed the need for joint coordination to advance the African agricultural national policies with the aim of achieving self-sufficiency given the direct impact of the food crisis on the security and peace situations in Africa.

The second axis focuses on the need to prioritize the issue of alleviating the burdens of debts shouldered by the African countries, especially amid the cruel global challenges.

In this regard, he affirmed the need for supporting the small and medium projects in continuation of the Yokohama work plan launched by President Sisi and late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2019.

 

The third axis sheds light on the necessity to work on activating the African Free Trade Zone as a cornerstone for the desired economic integrity of the continent with the aim of improving the climate of investments and making optimal use of the available resources, Madbouli said.

The premier also expressed the Egyptian state’s belief in the importance of regional and continental work to support the national efforts based on implementing the African Union’s 2063 Agenda.

This aims at achieving economic integrity and sustainable peace and fulfilling the aspirations of the African countries, Madbouli said, affirming that this requires concerting international efforts and supporting African countries and their institutions that are concerned with achieving security and development in the continent.

Madbouli said the Egyptian political leadership attaches great importance to the reconstruction file in Africa.

 

Egypt, through its hosting of the African Union Center for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development, will communicate with international and regional partners to support the African countries’ plans in this regard in order to achieve the desired economic development, the prime minister said.

During his speech, Madbouli also expressed Egypt’s full support to the reform steps taken by Tunisian President Kais Saied, expressing hope for Tunisia to successfully complete the coming entitlements.

Earlier today, Madbouli congratulated Saied on the success of the constitutional referendum in July, through which Tunisian people voted for the new Tunisian constitution.

Madbouli wished Tunisia continued prosperity and stability under the leadership of Saied.

 

Activating economic cooperation

In May, Madbouli participated in the 17th session of the Egyptian-Tunisian Joint Higher Committee, during which the two countries agreed to make 2022-2023 a year of activating economic cooperation between the two countries and to activate a maritime shipping line between both sides.

This was announced by Mabouli in his speech at the Egyptian-Tunisian Economic Forum that was co-chaired by him and his Tunisian counterpart Najla Bouden on the sidelines of the session.

“It requires us to work immediately to achieve this,” said Mabdouli, adding that there are no restrictions on businessmen between the two countries.

Madbouli noted that the trade exchange volume between the two countries witnessed a decline during the past two years to nearly 50 percent due to the successive crises of the coronavirus and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“Egypt is ready to activate a regular maritime line between the two countries, but the private sector must participate on both sides,” he said.

For her part, the Tunisian Prime Minister said that her country is working on facilitating the entry procedures with the electronic visa for businessmen, with the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to support and enhance aspects of cooperation in the areas of digitization and improve the level of services. 

The number of cooperation agreements between both sides are 11 in various fields, said Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania al Mashat.

In statements to Egyptian state-owned news agency MENA against the backdrop of the session, Mashat added: “Tunisian side is keen to benefit from the Egyptian experiment in several fields, including social solidarity and supporting megaprojects.