Madbouly emphasizes Africa’s vast economic potential at China-Africa form

Cairo – September 5, 2024: On behalf of President El Sisi, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly addressed the second high-level session of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), focusing on economic opportunities and strategic investments.

Madbouly underscored Africa's vast economic potential, citing its population growth, which has exceeded 1.5 billion this year, and emphasizing that this presents significant opportunities for trade and investment, particularly following the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

The session, themed "Industrial Transformation, Agricultural Modernization, and Green Development," included South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Wang Hongning, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

He highlighted the importance of industrial growth and the need for increased Chinese investment in Africa, and praised the TEDA Economic Zone as a successful example of collaboration between Egypt and China.

Established over 16 years ago, the zone has attracted approximately 170 companies across sectors such as the automotive industry, construction materials, textiles, chemicals, and machinery.

The total investment in the zone has surpassed $3 billion, with sales exceeding $5 billion, he added, and has created nearly 10,000 direct jobs and over 80,000 indirect jobs.

Madbouly also detailed Egypt’s industrial strategy, which aims to transform the country into a regional industrial hub. Key components include the establishment of new factories to meet domestic market needs and increase exports. The strategy targets boosting the number of industrial workers from the current 3.5 million to 7 million by 2030. This includes advancing industrial digitalization and expanding green industries.

Praising China’s 2021 Global Development Initiative, in line with Egypt’s Vision 2030 and the Belt and Road Initiative, the prime minister welcomed the ten initiatives announced by President Xi for strengthening China-Africa relations and highlighted the session’s focus on industrial transformation and green development as essential to addressing current and future challenges.

On agricultural modernization, Madbouly addressed the critical need to enhance agricultural productivity to ensure food security, highlighting that despite agriculture representing over 25 percent of Africa's GDP, the continent faces rising hunger rates, with 20.4 percent of the population experiencing food insecurity.

He called for increased investment and collaboration to modernize agriculture, manage water resources, and implement sustainable farming practices.