Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Muhammad Farid Saleh affirmed that Egypt is attracting qualitative investments to deepen local components, increase exports, and create jobs. He pointed out that attracting major African industrial entities to the Egyptian market boosts manufacturing capacities, amid ongoing government efforts to develop an attractive investment environment that stimulates foreign export-supporting investments.
This came during the minister's meeting with Fatima Wali Abdul Rahman, Regional Director and Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Nigerian Dangote Group, on the sidelines of his participation in the 18th AfCFTA Ministerial Meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, where they discussed expansion opportunities in vital sectors.
The Minister reviewed Egypt's economic, legislative, and procedural reforms to improve the investment climate, which included expanding digital government services, updating legal frameworks, and achieving a major leap in infrastructure, transport, and logistics projects to enhance competitiveness.
He indicated that the energy and petroleum sectors represent promising areas for cooperation, noting that it was agreed to provide the group with an integrated file detailing prominent opportunities in mining, strategic minerals, automotive, logistics centers, and managing investment zones.
For her part, Fatima Wali Abdul Rahman reviewed the group's activities in energy, fertilizers, food industries, and automobiles. She noted that the group is implementing a plan to increase its refinery capacity from 650,000 to 1.4 million barrels per day, raise fertilizer production from 3 million to 12 million tons annually, and expand in sugar, rice, and car assembly.
The meeting included a phone call with Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote, founder and chairman of the group, where both sides agreed to hold an official meeting in Cairo next October on the sidelines of the African Export-Import Bank meetings to finalize joint cooperation and investment opportunities.