Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi took part on Wednesday through video conferencing in the 40th Session of the Steering Committee of Heads of State and Government of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
During the meeting, Egypt was handed over the two-year presidency of the NEPAD committee, from Rwandan President Paul Kagame, following the members’ unanimous support for Egypt’s candidacy, Egyptian Presidency Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said.
Egypt is a founding member of NEPAD initiative, which is considered the development arm of the African Union (AU).
The NEPAD Steering Committee includes 33 member countries. It is also the political platform commissioned to follow up the implementation of NEPAD’s goals, mainly in fields of agriculture, food security, management of natural resources, and climate change, in addition to regional integration, infrastructure, human resource development, information and communication technology, and economic governance.
Addressing the meeting, President Sisi thanked President Kagame for his efforts during Rwandan’s presidency of the committee. He also expressed high appreciation of Senegal’s Presidency of the AU over the last year, referring to President Macky Sall’s efforts in support of Africa’s stances and in defending the continent’s interests.
Sisi pointed to the global economic crisis that undermines development efforts in Africa, and necessitates untraditional financing sources. It also requires harder efforts with Africa’s partners to resolve the crisis of accumulated debts, to help the continent restore the pace of economic recovery.
President Sisi reviewed the priorities of Egypt’s presidency of the ,committee over the coming two years, which include intensifying efforts to muster financial resources in priority areas for the continent, such as developing infrastructure, in a manner that would directly support the realisation of goals of the African Development Agenda 2063.
Egypt will also focus on industrial transformation, building on the outcome of the AU Summit on Industrialisation and Economic Diversification, held in November 2022, in a way that would guarantee developing chains of added value in the continent, which has become a top priority amid the repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Sisi said.
In addition, the Egyptian presidency will also seek to accelerate the pace of achieving the aspirations of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to maximise benefits of the agreement, President Sisi noted.
Egypt will also stress the paramount importance of African countries sharing their expertise in infrastructure development, the president said, referring to Egypt’s relevant pioneering development expertise over the past eight years.
He also pointed in this regard to the huge development project of Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant and Dam in Tanzania, which is being implemented by Egyptians and Tanzanians.
One further goal will be intensifying co-operation and coordination with international partners and financing institutions to bridge the funding gap in sustainable development projects in Africa, as well as alleviating the debt burdens on the most affected countries.
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