Cairo – January 8, 2024: Egypt seeks to increase trading with African nations, explained Yahya Al-Wathiq Billah, head of the Egyptian Commercial Service (ECS) in a recent interview, revealing a targeted 20 percent growth in intra-continent trading of 20 percent for the coming five years to reach $7.4 billion.

According to Al-Wathiq Billah, this increase will be driven by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement; a pact between the 49 member states of the African Union to enable the free flow of goods and services across the continent.

Egypt, along with 47 countries, has ratified the agreement, explained Al-Wathiq Billah. He expected the rest of the countries to ratify the trade agreement by the second half of 2024.

In July 2023, the Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) shared that trading between African nations was reported at less than 18 percent compared to around 50 percent in trade between Asian countries, and 70 percent between European countries.

Imports of Egyptian exports to African nations were up by 13 percent year-on-year during the first ten months of 2023 to hit $6 billion, driven by exports of marble, cement, polyethene, and phosphate fertilizers.

Egypt looks to enhance the accessibility of Egyptian exports in the next six years, revealing a targeted increase of no less than 20 percent to reach $145 billion by 2030, according to a new IDSC release on the government’s goals for the president’s new term.