Al-Ahram Organization Honors Dr. Rania Al-Mashat in Appreciation of Her Efforts in Boosting Economic Diplomacy between Egypt and the African Continent and Issuing Egypt’s Narrative for Economic Development

Al-Mashat:

Continuous Directives from H.E. the President of the Republic to Strengthen Integration with African Continent Countries.

African Integration is a Strategic Necessity to Face the Continent’s Challenges and Achieve Economic Development.

Governance of the Financial System to Facilitate the Continent’s Access to Development Finance Without Increasing Burdens.

Egypt Promotes a Vision to Create Innovative Partnerships between Southern Countries and Multilateral Institutions.

Economic Diplomacy is a Cornerstone for Facing Development Finance Challenges and Elevating Partnerships.

The Suez Canal Economic Zone is a Platform for Boosting African Trade and Investments.

We Demand Greater Representation for African Countries within International Financing Institutions.

Egypt Proposed Radical Solutions to the Crises Facing the Continent during its Chairmanship of the NEPAD Agency.

The Egyptian Private Sector is Implementing Pivotal Projects in Many Countries across the Continent.

Multilateral Development Banks are Increasingly Directing Operations Towards Sub-Saharan Africa.

We Launched a South-South Cooperation Strategy to Maximize Efforts in Exchanging Expertise between Egypt and Africa.

H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, delivered the keynote speech, on behalf of H.E. the Prime Minister, at the First Egyptian-African Economic Conference of "Al-Ahram Hebdo" newspaper, held under the title "The Africa We Want: Integration and Partnership for the Future." The conference was attended by Eng. Ibrahim Mahlab, former Egyptian Prime Minister; Dr. Ashraf Sobhy, Minister of Youth and Sports; Mr. Ahmed El-Meselmany, Head of the National Media Authority; Dr. Mohamed Fayez Farahat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al-Ahram Organization; Ms. Neveen Kamel, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram Hebdo; and heads of media and press entities, journalists, and a number of ambassadors.

In her speech, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat stated that the African continent today faces a critical juncture where global challenges, particularly geopolitical tensions, supply chain disruptions, climate change, food security challenges, and rising debt levels intersect. This necessitates integration and a multilateral approach to face them. 

Dr. Al-Mashat reaffirmed Egypt's keenness, during its participation in the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, to emphasize that the world urgently needs a more inclusive and responsive international financial governance, and that developing countries, foremost among them the continent's countries, must be able to access concessional financing and non-debt-related financing tools, allowing them to accelerate their development paths.

Minister Al-Mashat referred to the speech of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on the occasion of launching the fifth edition of the Week of Reconstruction and Development after Conflicts, where H.E. The President reiterated the intertwined security and development challenges facing the continent, despite its immense potential, resources, and human wealth. 

Dr. Al-Mashat noted Egypt's participation in the 7th African Union - European Union Summit, which affirmed the African Union's principles of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. She also mentioned Egypt's continuous effective efforts within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) alliance to foster free trade and economic integration, as well as raising monetary, financial, and development issues facing the continent through the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Dr. Al-Mashat pointed out that regional integration among African countries is not an option or a luxury, but an indispensable necessity to pave the way toward achieving economic development and tackling the challenges standing before the continent. From this perspective, Egypt's foreign policy under H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who is keen to push for African integration, has been shaped. 

Minister Al-Mashat highlighted that during H.E. President El-Sisi's term on the NEPAD Agency Steering Committee for the period 2023–2025, Egypt worked on implementing specific priorities that contribute to accelerating the pace of the Africa Agenda 2063 implementation and finding sustainable solutions to the continent's problems by adopting a comprehensive approach aimed at addressing the root causes of crises and challenges. She also mentioned representing Egypt at the first Korea-Africa Summit in 2024, which was a significant step toward strengthening cooperation between the continent and Asian partners.

The Minister added that during the Korea-Africa Summit, Egypt promoted a vision based on the need to create more innovative partnerships between the continent's countries and Southern countries and to benefit from Asian experiences to establish strong regional economic blocs capable of facing challenges and exchanging expertise, policies, and practices that enhance the effectiveness of regional and international cooperation.

Dr. Al-Mashat stressed that South-South cooperation is a fundamental pillar of Egyptian state policies, pointing out that the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation issued a strategy in 2024 to enhance South-South and Triangular Cooperation, based on creating effective partnerships between Egypt, African countries, and multilateral international institutions to exchange practices and benefit from successful development experiences, most notably the implementation of the national platform for the NWFE program, whose expertise is already being transferred to several African countries, including Tanzania.

Dr. Al-Mashat also referred to Egypt's launch of a framework for international cooperation and development finance in 2020 based on "Economic Diplomacy," which established clear foundations for international partnerships, development finance mechanisms, and resource mobilization in line with national and continental priorities. This framework was documented in a book by the London School of Economics titled "Stakeholder Engagement Through Economic Diplomacy", to document Egypt's experience in the field of international cooperation.

Minister Al-Mashat stated that Egypt's contribution to the continent is not limited to initiatives and policies but extends to real projects on the ground, implemented by national Egyptian companies in several African countries in the fields of roads, dams, infrastructure networks, and power and water stations. This expertise has become a mainstay for African brethren in national projects extending from the East to the West of the continent.

Minister Al-Mashat underscored Egypt's enhancement of integration and exchange of expertise with African countries to benefit from the policies implemented by the state in the field of development, such as the presidential initiative "Decent Life" (Hayah Karima), the 100 Million Health initiative, the initiative to eradicate Hepatitis C, and the comprehensive health insurance project, reflecting the Egyptian state and its political leadership's commitment to supporting the continent's Agenda 2063 for development. She noted that national entities continuously welcome delegations from sister African countries to study development experiences in various fields, which reflects an integrated national vision based on integration among the continent's countries.

Dr. Al-Mashat mentioned that the state, in cooperation with the South African presidency of the G20, hosted the third meeting of the Working Group on Food Security in Cairo last September, reflecting a firm conviction that addressing food security challenges requires international cooperation, the exchange of agricultural knowledge, modern irrigation technology, and support for innovation in food production.

Dr. Al-Mashat explained that the Suez Canal Economic Zone has become a global attraction platform for investments from various countries around the world, opening up great prospects for cooperation among African countries and serving as a global logistics center to support and stimulate regional and international trade movement and encourage economic integration between countries, especially in light of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), which works to facilitate trade movement among African countries.

Minister Al-Mashat emphasized that the conference topics are cornerstones for building a more competitive Africa, better prepared for integration into the global economy, pointing to the state's keenness during its African and international role to promote this vision through international forums, especially the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which represent an important gathering for African countries with multilateral international financing institutions. 

In these forums, Egypt strives to push the continent's development agenda, highlight its priorities, and consistently demand increased representation and presence for the African continent, and developing countries in general, in these institutions, as a key part of global financial system reform.

Concluding her speech, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat reaffirmed that “The Africa We Want” is not a distant goal; it is an achievable vision if we utilize the continent's enormous potential and manage to activate fair partnerships between the continent's countries and their partners, and benefit from shared opportunities to build a more resilient economy capable of creating development, jobs, and prosperity.

The Al-Ahram Organization honored Dr. Rania Al-Mashat in appreciation of her efforts in boosting economic diplomacy between Egypt and the African continent and issuing Egypt’s Narrative for Economic Development.