NEW ALAMEIN, Egypt — Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has arrived in Egypt’s coastal city of New Alamein to attend the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum, a three-day gathering focused on investment, trade, economic cooperation and development across Africa.
Mohamud is expected to present Somalia’s investment opportunities and hold bilateral meetings with Egyptian and other African leaders on strengthening economic ties and cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
The forum, running from Oct. 2 to 4, brings together African leaders, government officials, business executives, investors and representatives of regional and international financial institutions. Egypt is organizing the forum in cooperation with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD).
The inaugural gathering is designed to connect governments, investors and financial institutions and move discussions on Africa’s development priorities toward investment and implementable projects. Its agenda includes trade, infrastructure, energy, food security, healthcare, financing, digital transformation and regional connectivity.
For Somalia, the forum offers an opportunity to highlight sectors with potential for investment, including agriculture, livestock, fisheries, infrastructure, transport, financial services and energy. Somalia’s Investment Authority and Egyptian officials discussed several of those areas ahead of the forum, as well as possible institutional cooperation between the two countries’ investment agencies.
Mohamud’s visit also comes amid increased diplomatic engagement in the Horn of Africa. Earlier this week, he held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa on bilateral relations and regional political and security developments, according to the Somali presidency.
Somalia and Egypt have also maintained close diplomatic engagement on regional security and Somalia’s sovereignty. Their foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last week, with discussions covering bilateral relations and regional issues.
Egypt has repeatedly described Somalia’s stability and territorial integrity as important to security in the Red Sea and the wider Horn of Africa.
The Alamein gathering is being held alongside other high-level African meetings, including the AU Mid-Year Coordination Meeting and a summit of the founding states of AUDA-NEPAD. Egyptian officials say the events are intended to advance continental economic integration and connect development priorities with financing and private investment.
Mohamud’s participation therefore combines Somalia’s efforts to attract investment with its wider diplomatic engagement on regional economic and political issues, as African governments seek greater intra-continental trade, infrastructure connectivity and access to development finance.
