CAIRO – Assistant Foreign Minister for African Organisations and Communities at the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Ambassador Ashraf Swelam shed light on giant promising opportunities the African continent provides being a broad field for investment and trade and a giant market of 1.4 billion people, most of them are young people.
During his participation on the head of an Egyptian delegation, taking part in the ministerial meeting of the Russian-African partnership held in Sochi, the Egyptian diplomat – in the speech he delivered on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates Badr Abdelatty – pointed out to Egypt’s pride in the African-Russian partnership that was inaugurated during the Egyptian presidency of the African Union (AU) in 2019, as its first summit was held in Sochi, under the co-chairmanship of Presidents Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the same year.
Meantime, he underscored the importance the African Continental Free Trade Agreement signed during the Egyptian presidency of the AU and the momentum leap it represented down the road towards efforts meant to achieve regional integration.
The Egyptian diplomat explained the importance Africa attached to its external partnerships, especially with Russia, to realise peace and security for the continent and the world and to strengthen joint efforts to achieve sustainable continental development and the Africa Agenda 2063.
Swelam referred to great challenges facing the continent and the world, especially in light of successive crises in recent years, including conflicts and spread of terrorism, along with cross-border challenges, including epidemics and illegal immigration, as well as the worsening debt crisis and the decline in development aid.
The Egyptian diplomat underlined the urgent need for incorporating comprehensive and profound reform into the global system as well as the international economic system, including addressing historical injustice in the continent’s representation in the Security Council and in the international economic decision-making mechanisms.
Meantime, he praised existing cooperation with Russia, including the opening of the Russian industrial zone in Egypt and the giant projects being implemented in the fields of infrastructure and energy, explaining that it is an exemplary model for African-Russian co-operation.
