Africa 2018 to be held in Sharm El Sheikh next December

CAIRO - 15 September: The economic forum Africa 2018 will be held on December 8 -9 in Sharm El Sheikh for the second time hosting 2,000 participants. That will be one month before Egypt starts chairing the African Union.

Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr revealed that the forum will include sessions on women empowerment, and the Young Entrepreneurs Day (YED).

The forum titled “Bold Leadership and Collective Commitment: Advancing Intra-African Investments” is jointly organized by the ministry and COMESA Regional Investment Agency.

The agency’s Regional Manager Heba Salama expressed her appreciation for Egypt’s role in supporting economic relations between African countries, and the ministry’s role in hosting the conference for three years.

The Africa 2017 Forum held on December 8 and 9, 2017 was attended by some 3,000 participants, including heads of state, ministers, investors, entrepreneurs and African and regional institutions.

The conference has put forward five recommendations:

1- Pumping new investments in Africa to boost economic growth and development

2- The establishment of joint projects, particularly in infrastructure, to support investment and trade among African states.

3- Enhancing the role of the African private sector to increase investment rates in the continent.

4- The execution of programs that encourage entrepreneurship and the adoption of programs that would increase youth’s participation in the African economy.

5- Empowering women in all fields of economic activity, considering them as active members in the process of developing Africa and achieving economic stability.

Moreover, twelve African start-ups have been selected to pitch their businesses at Africa 2017 to investors, private equity firms and venture capital firms to secure funding for their business expansion and growth.

Chosen from over 100 applications across Africa, each of the 12 companies will have a 30-minute window to showcase their companies at the Deal Room at the conference venue.

Leading African economic intelligence company Asoko Insight ran the selection process. “African businesses are rapidly growing in number and sophistication, but the challenge of positioning themselves in front of institutional investors and global corporations, remains,” Asoko CEO and co-founder Rob Withagen said.

The selected companies are working in the fields of agriculture, agribusiness, transport and logistics, and manufacturing.

Two of the 12 companies are Egyptian; Simplex, which works in light manufacturing including textiles, leather, paper, plastics, food and beverages, and Tagaddod that works in biodiesel production.