New Alamein hosted a series of cross-border agreements spanning automotive manufacturing, trade promotion, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, financial cooperation and education, as Egypt and its African partners sought to convert the continent’s economic integration agenda into projects and commercial partnerships.
The inaugural Alamein Africa Business Forum, held in New Alamein from October 2 to 4, concluded with a series of agreements between Egyptian companies and institutions and their African counterparts, alongside a wider pipeline of proposed investments and financing initiatives.
According to Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), the forum was established following an African Union decision in February 2026 to create a permanent African business forum to be held every two years in New Alamein. The event was jointly organized by the Egyptian government, the African Union Commission, AUDA-NEPAD and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), with a stated objective of connecting governments, businesses and financial institutions and turning investment opportunities into implementable projects.
The agreements signed around the forum covered both direct commercial partnerships and institutional frameworks intended to facilitate future trade and investment.
Automotive partnership targets Egyptian and African markets
The most direct corporate transaction announced at the forum was a joint venture between Egypt’s ELARABY Group and South Africa’s Malben Engineering to manufacture automotive components.
According to ELARABY Group, the agreement was signed by Mohamed Abdel Gayed El Araby, CEO of Industrial Operations, on the sidelines of the Africa Automotive Investment Forum held in New Alamein. The partnership will combine ELARABY’s industrial and engineering capabilities with Malben Engineering’s more than 50 years of experience in metal stamping, automated welding and electrocoating for automotive components.
ELARABY said the joint venture aims to establish a shared manufacturing base serving the Egyptian market while expanding into African markets. The group said the partnership would use the opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to develop regional automotive supply chains and deepen industrial integration across the continent.
The African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) described the partnership as an example of cross-border manufacturing cooperation taking shape at the forum. According to AAAM, the agreement is intended to create automotive component manufacturing and supply-chain opportunities serving both Egypt and wider African markets, while strengthening localization and pan-African supplier networks.
The agreement comes as Egypt seeks to deepen local automotive manufacturing and develop a stronger base of component suppliers, while South Africa is positioning its automotive industry as an anchor for regional manufacturing.
South Africa’s Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) said the Africa Automotive Investment Forum brought together governments, original equipment manufacturers, component suppliers, investors, financiers and development partners to identify bankable opportunities and advance integrated continental automotive supply chains.
Egypt–South Africa business ties gain a new framework
The forum also produced a new institutional mechanism for economic cooperation between Egypt and South Africa.
According to the South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the two countries launched the Joint South Africa–Egypt Business Council on October 2 on the margins of the Alamein Africa Business Forum. The department said the council is intended to deepen bilateral trade and investment by creating practical commercial partnerships between companies in the two countries and using Egypt and South Africa as gateways into wider African markets.
The dtic identified several initiatives under the council, including a mining and minerals partnership, an automotive and new-energy mobility partnership, an agriculture and agro-processing corridor, an engineering and infrastructure partnership, and a renewable-energy and green-industrial platform. It also identified an Africa Joint-Venture Investment Fund as a proposed private-sector investment vehicle targeting companies and projects capable of expanding beyond the two domestic markets.
Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs separately confirmed that Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola signed an agreement establishing a High Joint Committee between the two countries.
According to the ministry statement carried by the State Information Service, the committee will strengthen bilateral cooperation and follow up on agreements and initiatives across political, economic, trade, investment and development fields. The two ministers also agreed to hold the first session of the business council during Abdelatty’s planned visit to South Africa.
The two mechanisms give the economic relationship both a government-level channel and a business-level platform, with the stated aim of moving bilateral opportunities into concrete projects.
Four agreements with Equatorial Guinea
Egypt also signed four memorandums of understanding with Equatorial Guinea covering agriculture, culture, tourism and aquaculture.
According to the State Information Service’s official coverage of the forum, the agreements were concluded during the first session of the Egypt–Equatorial Guinea Joint Committee, co-chaired by Abdelatty and Equatorial Guinea’s Foreign Minister Simeón Oyono Esono Angue on the sidelines of the forum.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the two sides discussed ways to expand economic and investment cooperation and increase bilateral trade. Abdelatty also called for greater opportunities for Egyptian companies to participate in Equatorial Guinea’s priority development projects, particularly in infrastructure, construction, housing, energy, pharmaceuticals and fisheries.
The four MoUs therefore sit within a broader attempt to expand Egypt’s commercial relationship with the Central African country, rather than representing individual disclosed investment transactions.
Egypt and Chad deepen pharmaceutical cooperation
Healthcare and pharmaceuticals were another area where the forum produced a formal agreement.
According to the Egyptian Drug Authority, its chairman Ali El-Ghamrawy and Chad’s Minister of Public Health and Prevention Abdel Magid Abdel Rahim Mohamed signed a memorandum of understanding covering pharmaceuticals, biological products and medical supplies on the sidelines of the forum.
The EDA said the agreement provides for the exchange of technical and regulatory expertise and information, strengthening regulatory capabilities and improving practices related to the safety, quality and efficacy of medical products. The authority said the agreement is intended to support pharmaceutical integration between the two countries and create further avenues for cooperation and partnership.
The agreement is also part of a broader effort by Egypt to expand pharmaceutical cooperation with African markets, particularly through regulatory cooperation that can facilitate the movement of locally manufactured medicines and medical supplies.
Egypt–Ghana agreement targets joint projects
The private sector added another cross-border cooperation agreement through a protocol between the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) and the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI).
According to the State Information Service, the protocol was signed by FEI and GNCCI President Kofi Nsiah on the sidelines of the Alamein Africa Business Forum. Sherif El-Gabaly, head of the FEI’s African Cooperation Committee, said the agreement is intended to move economic relations between Egypt and Ghana toward more practical cooperation and turn opportunities into joint projects.
El-Gabaly said, according to SIS, that the protocol focuses on connecting Egyptian and Ghanaian companies and identifying viable investment opportunities, particularly in infrastructure, agriculture and agro-industries, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizers. He said the two sides would need a direct communication mechanism to identify opportunities, coordinate among companies and follow up on proposed projects.
The protocol does not disclose a financial value or represent a specific investment transaction, but it creates a business-to-business framework for identifying projects that could subsequently attract capital.
BADEA and AOAD sign agriculture MoU
The agricultural sector also featured in a separate agreement between two development institutions.
According to the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), the bank and the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD) signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the Alamein Africa Forum.
BADEA said the agreement seeks to strengthen cooperation in sustainable agricultural development and food securityand establish an institutional framework for coordination and the exchange of expertise in support of African countries benefiting from the bank’s programs. The MoU was signed by BADEA President Abdullah Khalil Al-Musaibeeh and AOAD Director General Ibrahim Adam Ahmed Al-Dakhiri.
BADEA said the agreement builds on existing cooperation between the two institutions, including previous grants provided by the bank to AOAD to finance agricultural activities and initiatives.
Unlike the ELARABY–Malben agreement, the BADEA–AOAD MoU establishes a cooperation framework rather than announcing a single identified investment project.
Education joins the forum’s signed agreements
The agreements extended beyond commercial sectors into higher education and research.
According to the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), AASTMT President Ismail Abdel Ghaffar and Senghor University President Jean-Marc Lavest signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the Alamein Africa Business Forum.
AASTMT said the MoU creates a framework for cooperation in scientific research, higher education and cross-cultural interaction, including student collaboration, summer programs, workshops and joint research projects. The academy said the partnership is intended to create opportunities for training, research, innovation and cultural exchange.
The financial sector was also part of the push
The forum additionally highlighted an existing network of financial-sector cooperation between Egypt and African countries.
According to Central Bank of Egypt Governor Hassan Abdalla, Egypt has signed at least 15 memorandums of understanding with African central banks covering areas including training and governance. Abdalla disclosed the figure during his keynote session at the Alamein Africa Forum on October 4.
The CBE said Abdalla also highlighted the expansion of Egyptian banks’ presence in African markets through credit lines and financial facilities intended to support liquidity, money markets and investment. He called for reducing cross-border barriers and increasing the use of local currencies in intra-African trade.
The 15 central-bank MoUs, however, should not be treated as 15 agreements newly signed during the Alamein forum. Abdalla presented them as part of Egypt’s broader existing financial cooperation with African central banks.
With new partnerships taking shape across manufacturing, agriculture, pharmaceuticals and trade, Alamein has laid the groundwork for a stronger Egypt-Africa business relationship and a wider pipeline of opportunities for regional growth.
