Egypt plans to ramp up exports to African market: minister

Egypt plans to increase its exports and carve out a larger share of the African and Central Asian markets, its trade minister Amr Nassar said on Monday.

“Egypt’s exports to Africa currently make up less than 1 percent of all African countries’ imports, yet we can double this number effortlessly,” Nassar said at a parliamentary committee meeting.

Egypt’s exports to African countries do not exceed $4 billion annually.

However, the Egyptian exports to Africa increased by 17 percent in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the same period last year.

Egyptian exports to Africa reached 901 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year compared to 745 million dollars during the same period last year

“Enhancing the Egyptian-African ties at both the political and economic levels is a top priority of the Egyptian government,” said the minister, stressing that Egypt supports Africa to restore its position on the world economic map.

Egypt is currently working on increasing its exports as one of the main sources of national income and hard currency, and it managed to increase its non-oil exports by 9 percent to exceed 21 billion U.S. dollars in 2017

The African continent, rich in human and natural resources, is currently experiencing extensive economic activity and a flow of large investments from numerous countries.