Dr. Taghreed Hussein writes ✍️
Undersecretary, National Media Authority
Member, Foreign Relations Committee – The National Council for Women
Under the resonant theme “Connecting Africa Now: Trade without Limits”, Cairo has become the beating heart of continental dialogue, hosting a series of high-level African trade meetings that bring together ministers, senior officials, and private sector leaders. The gatherings aim to strengthen partnerships, expand investment opportunities, and shape the future of Africa’s economic integration.
At the center of these engagements, the Private Sector Business Forum—organized under the umbrella of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—opened in Cairo, marking the first-ever AfCFTA Trading Companies Business Forum on the continent.
Speaking at the opening, Dr. Nevine Nakhla, AfCFTA Trading Company, Egypt, underscored the Forum’s role as more than just a platform for discussion:
“Let this Forum across Africa be a launchpad—not just for dialogue, but for deals and real projects.”
Her words set the tone for a gathering that aspires to translate rhetoric into reality.
H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the AfCFTA, reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to strengthening logistics frameworks and harnessing digital technologies as engines of Africa’s integration and growth.
Meanwhile, H.E. Hassan El Khatib, Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, highlighted Africa’s unique wealth—its history, resources, and strategic geography—and emphasized the imperative of transforming these assets into a unified economic reality that elevates Africa’s global competitiveness.
Egypt’s leadership role was further underscored by its recent assumption of the Chairmanship of the Bureau of the Council of Trade Ministers for the North Africa Region, reinforcing Cairo’s pivotal place in steering the continent’s integration efforts.
In Cairo, the message was clear: Africa’s destiny is not to trade in fragments, but to rise as one continent—without borders, without limits.
