This article was produced with the support of AUDA NEPAD
The engagement, hosted by Egyptian Ambassador to South Africa H.E. Ahmad Sharief, positioned the Forum as a strategic platform to strengthen African investment partnerships, deepen regional integration and accelerate implementation of Agenda 2063.
Addressing captains of industry and corporate leaders, Ambassador Sharief described the Forum as an opportunity to strengthen strategic connectivity between South Africa, North Africa and the world, while creating new commercial and investment pathways for African enterprises.
Calling on South African businesses to participate in the Forum, Sharief said Alamein would serve as “a wider continental meeting point” bringing together investors, policymakers, construction companies and business leaders from across the continent.
“Africa’s future must be built by African hands,” he said. “Africa does not lack markets and capital. What we need is to forge stronger connections between them and bring Africa’s strengths closer together.”
The Ambassador also highlighted Egypt’s economic resilience, noting that the country had achieved growth of 5% alongside a primary surplus of 2% despite global economic headwinds and geopolitical uncertainty.
The event underscored Egypt’s increasingly prominent role within Africa’s continental development architecture and its longstanding partnership with AUDA-NEPAD. In her address, the CEO of AUDA-NEPAD Ms Nardos Bekele-Thomas praised Egypt’s continued commitment to advancing continental integration and implementation of Agenda 2063.
“As one of the founding members of NEPAD, Egypt has consistently demonstrated strong political commitment to strengthening Africa’s development architecture,” she said, pointing to Egypt’s leadership in infrastructure development, industrialisation, climate resilience and regional integration.
She also highlighted the establishment of the AUDA-NEPAD Centre of Excellence on Climate Change, Resilience and Adaptation in Cairo as evidence of growing collaboration between Egypt and continental institutions.
Against the backdrop of global economic fragmentation, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical tensions, the AUDA-NEPAD CEO argued that Africa continues to emerge as one of the world’s most significant investment frontiers.
“Africa represents not only a development frontier, but one of the world’s major growth and investment frontiers of the coming decades,” she said.
With 41% of African economies projected to grow above 5%, she noted that the continent’s fundamentals remain strong, driven by a young population, expanding consumer markets, digital innovation and the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Central to the discussion was the positioning of the Alamein Africa Forum as an implementation-focused platform aimed at moving beyond declarations toward tangible transactions and investment execution.
“The Alamein Africa Forum is not just another conference,” Ms Bekele-Thomas said. “It is a golden opportunity for deal-making, investment facilitation and implementation partnerships capable of accelerating Africa’s economic transformation.”
The Forum will feature investor matchmaking platforms, deal rooms, startup arenas and investment dialogues designed to connect bankable projects with financiers and strategic partners.
AUDA-NEPAD, working alongside the Government of Egypt, Afreximbank and the African Development Bank, is seeking to ensure the Forum delivers measurable implementation outcomes across infrastructure, energy, industrialisation, digital transformation, health systems and agri-food value chains.
The agency noted that more than 300 regional infrastructure projects valued at over US$500bn are currently being advanced through continental initiatives aimed at improving connectivity and industrial competitiveness.
The gathering also placed strong emphasis on the role of African private capital and enterprise in driving the continent’s next phase of growth.
“The scale of transformation required across our continent cannot be financed through public resources alone,” Bekele-Thomas said. “Africa’s future growth will increasingly depend on our ability to mobilise African capital, African enterprise, African innovation and African markets.”
South African businesses, she added, have a particularly important role to play given their industrial capacity, financial sophistication and continental experience.
“We therefore encourage strong South African participation at the Forum in Alamein,” she said. “The continent needs builders, investors, manufacturers, innovators and long-term partners committed to shaping Africa’s future from within.”
For both Egypt and AUDA-NEPAD, the message from Pretoria was clear: Africa’s next phase of growth will depend not only on political ambition, but on the ability of African institutions, businesses and investors to forge stronger continental partnerships capable of turning opportunity into implementation.