Egypt keen on boosting African integration - electricity min.

CAIRO - 21 February 2019: Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker asserted that Egypt is keen on boosting African integration in light of its presidency of the African Union in 2019.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Electricity on Thursday, Shaker expressed this in his address to the 14th ministerial meeting of the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) which is being hosted by Entebbe, Uganda.

Shaker pointed out to the important role played by electricity linkage projects in achieving development in EAPP member states.

The two-day ministerial meeting, which wraps up today, addresses a host of issues related to the development and future of the eastern Africa region and cooperation among eastern and northern African countries.

Shaker shed light on the accomplishments achieved in Egypt within the past four years to face the challenges of the sector of electricity and have an environment that encourages the private sector to participate in power-generation projects.

The Egyptian energy sector succeeded in adding 25,000 megawatts to the national power grid during the past four years, Shaker said.

He asserted the importance of electricity linkage projects to boost regional and continental energy security.

Egypt is committed to fully supporting the EAPP member states to achieve full African integration and accomplish the goals of the 2063 Agenda for African development, he said.

Shaker said that Egypt is looking forward to hosting the coming ministerial meeting, expressing Egypt's desire to share its expertise in all fields of electricity and energy with African partners.