The development of trade relations between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries since 2014

Abstract

The Egyptian authorities have worked to develop cooperation with the Nile Basin countries in a number of vital areas, the most important of which are trade, investment, irrigation, agriculture, health and education, as these bodies provided their various expertise to the Nile Basin countries, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry followed the strategy of targeting African markets and identified a number of measures to maximize the benefit of the COMESA agreement, In view of the economic and social importance of the Nile River to the peoples of the basin countries with the strong desire of those countries to cooperate among themselves, this study aimed to clarify the extent of the development of trade relations between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries since 2014 until the last available data, using the descriptive and analytical approach, To analyze the indicators of exports and imports between Egypt and the basin countries during that period, the study found that Kenya and Sudan accounted for a large percentage of Egypt's exports to the Nile Basin countries, while 5 countries accounted for 99.1% of Egypt's total imports from the Nile Basin countries with a value of $ 494 million. Sudan comes in first place with a value of $ 258 million, accounting for 51% of the total, and despite the high volume of trade exchange between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries, there is still a gap in the volume of trade relations, and there are wasted opportunities in the field of trade between the Nile Basin countries in many products, especially agricultural and food, The study also found that the reason for this gap in trade relations is due to the existence of obstacles to trade exchange between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries, such as the lack of regular shipping lines, and to face these obstacles, the study developed ways to address these obstacles, and the study also recommended stimulating investment in African infrastructure, which contributes to reducing restrictions on Egyptian-African trade in general and the basin countries in particular, especially the countries joining the COMESA Group