African leaders to gather in Egypt for business summit

Egypt is hosting a three-day business summit, the Alamein Africa Forum, in Cairo on Friday, aiming to strengthen its influence across the continent. The forum comes as China and Gulf states, particularly the United Arab Emirates, have become major players in Africa. Egypt, long focused on the Middle East and the Mediterranean, is seeking to reassert its presence in Africa and rally support in its dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The forum will bring together over 20 heads of state, government representatives, business leaders, bankers, and development institutions. Egypt's deputy foreign minister for African affairs, Mohamed Abu Bakr Saleh, stressed that this is an "African platform" that should facilitate agreements between countries on the continent. The forum will focus on infrastructure, trade, agriculture, healthcare, mining, technology, and renewable energy, with officials estimating Egyptian investments in Africa at around $14 billion.

However, intra-African trade remains limited, accounting for only 15 percent of the continent's total trade, compared to over 55 percent in Asia and more than 70 percent in Europe. Foreign direct investment in Africa also totals about $70 billion in 2025, a small fraction of the roughly $1.6 trillion invested globally. Egypt's flagship venture in Africa is the $3 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project in Tanzania, built by an Egyptian consortium.

Despite the forum's potential, the GERD remains a contentious issue, with Ethiopia asserting that the dam is crucial for its economic growth, while Egypt fears it will jeopardize Nile water supplies without a binding operating agreement. A decade of negotiations has failed to reach a settlement, with Egypt maintaining that its water security is an "existential issue."