AFRICAN leaders will meet in Egypt on Friday for a business summit that Cairo hopes will bolster its clout across the continent.

The inaugural three-day Alamein Africa Forum is part of Egypt’s push to reassert itself in a continent where China and Gulf states, particularly the United Arab Emirates, have emerged as major players.

After long focusing on the Middle East and the Mediterranean, Egypt is keen to rebuild its influence within Africa.

It has also sought to rally backing in its long-running dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which it sees as a threat to its vital share of Nile waters.

Friday’s forum is expected to bring together more than 20 heads of state and government representatives in the Mediterranean city of Alamein, alongside business leaders, bankers and development institutions.

“This is an African platform,” Egypt’s deputy foreign minister for African affairs Mohamed Abu Bakr Saleh told AFP.

“A country in East Africa should be able to sign an agreement with a country in West, North or southern Africa through this platform.”

Saleh said the forum would become a biennial event under an African Union mandate, focusing on infrastructure, trade, agriculture, health care, mining, technology and renewable energy.

Officials estimate Egyptian investments across Africa at around $14 billion. Among Egypt’s flagship ventures is Tanzania’s ?US?$3-billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project, built by a consortium led by Egyptian companies.

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Yet trade within Africa remains limited, totalling just US$192 billion in 2023 and only accounting for around 15 per cent of the continent’s total trade, compared with more than 55 per cent in Asia and over 70 per cent in Europe.

Africa also attracted about $70 billion in foreign direct investment in 2025 — a fraction of the roughly $1.6 trillion invested globally, according to the United Nations.

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“Africa possesses vast resources, but they are still not being exploited to the level we would like to see,” Saleh said.

The gathering also takes place against the backdrop of an unresolved dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the US$5 billion GERD, Africa’s largest hydroelectric project.

Ethiopia says the dam, inaugurated last year, is vital for economic growth, while Egypt says it could threaten Nile water supplies without a binding operating agreement.

More than a decade of negotiations have failed to yield a settlement.

“Our position on Egypt’s water security has not changed and will not change,” Saleh said. “It is an existential issue for Egypt.”