“Egypt seeks increasing the volume of its exports to the African Free Trade Zone (AFTZ) to $5 billion in the next three years, compared to $2.7 billion in 2013,” said Egypt’s Industry’s Minister.

AFTZ includes the three biggest trade blocs: Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC).

“Egypt’s imports from SADC markets reach $7 billion annually, while the exports do not exceed $42 million,” said Egyptian Minister of Industry Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour in press statements after a meeting with Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) Tuesday.

The free trade agreement between the three biggest trade blocs is expected to be signed during a conference in Sharm el-Sheikh to be held in June. It will launch a free trade zone between the 26 member states of the blocs.

FEI President Mohamed Zaki El-Swedy said that the federation has presented proposals on increasing Egyptian exports to African markets to the Cabinet. The Most prominent proposal was the products’ exchange between Egypt and Africa to ensure foreign currency.

Egypt has acquired 25 percent of intra-regional trade exports in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). It also ranks fourth among the major importers in the COMESA region, African Development Bank (ADB) representative Laila Mokaddem said in March, 2014.

Source: The Cairo post

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