The president’s remarks were made during a video conference of the steering committee of Heads of State and Government of the African Union Development Agency (NEPAD), whose leadership Egypt has assumed until 2025, presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said in an official note.

El-Sisi identified five priorities of that agency in the coming years, including seeking financial resources for essential areas in the continent, such as infrastructure construction.

“We also need to boost industrial transformation to ensure the development of added-value chains, an absolute necessity at present”, he said.

El-Sisi also encouraged advancement of the Continental Free Trade Agreement and the intensification, cooperation and coordination with international partners, so as to close financing gaps in sustainable development projects and reduction of the debt burden of the most affected countries.

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