Annual meetings of African Caucus for WB, IMF kick off

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt - 5 August 2018: Annual meetings of the African Caucus for the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) kicked off on Sunday in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh under the patronage of Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli.

The two-day meetings, organized by the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), are attended by representatives from 40 countries from inside and outside the African continent.

Ministers of Investment and International Cooperation and Finance Sahar Nasr and Mohamed Maeit respectively will chair the annual meetings of the African Group, in the presence of representatives of the major international institutions, the Investment Ministry had said in a statement on Friday.

The meetings will bring together a number of international cooperation and finance ministers, as well as governors of central banks, along with high level officials from the WB and the IMF, the statement said.

The investment minister said Egypt's hosting of these meetings comes within the framework of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s directives to support issues related to the African continent at all international gatherings.

She further asserted that Egypt will exert utmost efforts to back interests and priorities of the African development plan during her chairmanship of the African Caucus for 2018, the statement added.

For his part, the finance minister said that hosting the international event reflects the deeply-rooted ties between Egypt and its fellow African countries.

The Egyptian-African relations have witnessed unprecedented development over the past few years, mainly after Egypt’s membership in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), he added.

He asserted Egypt’s keenness on engaging in the development efforts of the African continent and boosting economic ties with African countries.

The list of attendees at the annual meetings includes First Vice President of the World Bank Mahmoud Mohie Eddin, Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the Middle East and Africa Sergio Pimenta and Chief Executive Officer of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) Keiko Honda.

The event will be attended by ministers of international and financial cooperation and central bank governors from the following African countries: Algeria, Sudan, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Comoros, Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ghana, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, the Sao Tome and Principe Islands.