Wed Jun 25/2025 – 01:35 PM
Engineer Mohamed Shimi, Minister of Public Business Sector, held a meeting with Nardos Beckley Thomas, CEO of the African Union Development Agency (Oda-Nibad), on the sidelines of his participation in the US-African Business Summit held in the Angolan capital of Janda.
The meeting dealt with the prospects for strategic cooperation between Egypt and the “Oda-Nibad” agency, especially in the context of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of the Guidance Committee for heads of states and governments of the African Union Development Agency, and the priorities of the African Union’s agenda 2063, in particular in the areas of regional integration, infrastructure development, industrial transformation, and resource mobilization from the public and private sectors.
Building sustainable partnerships in the African markets
Engineer Mohamed Shimi stressed the importance that Egypt attaches to consolidating cooperation with Oda-Nibad, expressing his aspiration to enhance this cooperation in the next stage. He pointed to the great capabilities that the Egyptian state possesses in vital areas such as infrastructure, housing, energy, technology and other sectors, calling for the employment of these capabilities to build sustainable partnerships in the African markets.
For her part, Mrs. Nardos Bekilli Thomas stressed the importance of the African infrastructure financing summit to be held in October 2025, as a strategic platform for directing investments towards priority projects. Egypt also called for the leadership of efforts to establish an integrated platform that brings together governments, financiers and the private sector, and contributes to accelerating the implementation of vital projects according to the 2063 agenda.
The two sides stressed the necessity of activating the participation of the Egyptian private sector in the investment platforms, foremost of which is the deals rooms to be held within the summit, during which it will be presented ready projects for financing. The importance of using digital tools and interactive gates provided by the Oda-Nibad agency to enhance transparency and accelerate the investment decision.
Infrastructure development program in Africa
Engineer Mohamed Shimi proposed the possibility of holding a high -level African dialogue hosted by Egypt, which is devoted to state -owned institutions with the aim of enhancing governance, raising operational efficiency, and expanding cross -border partnerships. The CEO welcomed the proposal and confirmed the full support of the agency to design and coordinate this dialogue as a strategic platform for exchanging knowledge and institutional transformation.
It was also agreed on a package of practical initiatives, most notably: the establishment of a joint platform linking governments, project sponsors, local and international financiers, and the private sector, to facilitate investment in infrastructure projects, and enable Egypt to reach a dedicated access to the project database approved within the agency’s programs, and to discuss integrating Egyptian institutions within regional programs, foremost of which is the infrastructure development program in Africa (PIDA) and the plan The continent for energy.
At the end of the meeting, Minister Mohamed Shemi renewed the confirmation of Egypt’s keenness to participate in the next October summit, noting that the partnership with the Oda-Nibad agency is a natural extension of the Egyptian pioneering role in supporting comprehensive development efforts at the level of the African continent.
