The Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) will organize a business delegation to Uganda and Tanzania in April that will include 20 different industries, Sherif el-Gabaly, Chairman of Cooperation with Africa Committee at FEI said Sunday. He said that the delegation that was sent to Rwanda last week was a success. It included seven businessmen from different industries and resulted in the agreement with the Rwandan side on conducting business in the fields of food industries, packaging, printing and chemicals. The delegation met with 150 Rwandan companies working in the fields of renewable energy, building materials, engineering industries, leather, printing and readymade garments. Gebaly said that the delegation was the first in a number of delegations that will be organized to various African states during 2018. He added that the committee will organize two delegations to a number of Western African countries by June. The organization of these delegations comes as a first step to implement what the Cooperation with Africa Committee and the African delegations have agreed upon during the Africa 2017 Forum that was held in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in December. Enhancing relations with all African states comes on the top of Egypt's priorities, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said. Last week, Egypt, along with African leaders, met at the summit of African heads of state in the Rwandan capital of Kigali to sign the Continental Free-Trade Zone (CFTZ), the pan-African trade liberalization agreement. The agreement is set to help achieve the African economic integration, enhance sustainable development and increase growth rates in African states. The objectives of the agreement is to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments, and thus pave the way for accelerating the establishment of the Continental Customs Union and the African customs union.
