(VOVworld)- The African Economic Summit took place in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh last week. The two-day event aimed to boost trade and investment and promote economic integration across the continent.

African countries accelerate economic integration

Organized by Egypt, the African Union, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the summit attracted more than 1,500 delegates including the Presidents of Sudan, Nigeria, Togo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, and business leaders in the region.

In his opening speech, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi called on African countries to enhance cooperation toward integration. He stressed the need to accelerate major projects in the region, especially infrastructure projects. The Egyptian President said Egypt plans to double its trade with other African countries. He said the completion of the project to expand the Suez Canal was the first step toward expanding trade between Africa and the rest of the world. Abdel Fattah al Sisi stressed the importance of human resource development, especially among the younger generation because the future of the region depends on them.

Africa Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina said it’s necessary to remove trade barriers within the region to help Africa develop sustainably. He urged African leaders to work together to remove all trade barriers and open up a common market to promote growth and prosperity for all African countries. Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir said Africa is a potential market for all countries in the region and urged them to take advantage of it.

According to a recent UN report, Africa is likely to grow 4.4% in 2016 compared to 3.7% in 2015. Despite economic growth, Africa contributed only 2% to global trade. The continent is still facing numerous difficulties and challenges to sustainable growth, including poor infrastructure and political instability.