Adly Saadawi to “Zoom Africa News”: The Africa Forward Summit is a strategic platform to promote international investments in the continent
The summit is being held amidst highly complex international and regional circumstances.
Dr. Adly Saadawi, former dean of the Institute of Research and Strategic Studies for Nile Basin Countries and member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs, emphasized the paramount importance of the summit.“Africa Forward”The conference was held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, with broad French and Kenyan participation, and in the presence of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The Africa Forward Summit is a strategic platform to promote international investment on the African continent.
Saadawi told Zoom Africa News that the timing of the meeting Summit It comes amid extremely complex international and regional circumstances, which gives it significant political and economic weight. He explained that what distinguishes this summit is the unprecedented level of participation from the heads of major companies, businessmen, and global investment institutions operating in diverse sectors including industry, agriculture, and energy, which enhances opportunities for joint economic cooperation.
Saadawi explained that the African continent is a “virgin continent” with enormous potential that will enable it to achieve strong growth rates in the near future, noting that many countries on the continent are currently achieving growth rates exceeding 5% annually, which is a very positive indicator.
The former dean of the Nile Basin Countries Research Institute pointed to the continent’s economic assets, noting that Africa has about 66% of arable land in the world, in addition to enormous mineral wealth and growing youth capabilities, as the continent’s population, currently at 1.2 billion, is expected to double, representing a huge consumer market and workforce.
Free trade zone: The biggest economic engine
Saadawi continued his remarks on the strategic importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which includes 54 countries, considering it the largest trade bloc in the world after the World Trade Organization.
He stressed that this bloc makes Africa an attractive market for global investments, and pushes countries and investors to strive strongly to attract this market in the areas of commodities, raw materials and capital investments.
He expressed his hope that this summit would yield tangible results, contributing to attracting more French and international investments, in addition to strengthening intra-African investments, thus ensuring the activation and increased activity of the free trade area, ultimately leading to the achievement of sustainable development and the desired economic growth for all countries of the continent.
