By all accounts, the summit was a massive success. With nearly 2,000 delegates from 112 countries attending the three-day event, the Egyptians were able to forge not only a healthy sense of foreign goodwill following years of civil unrest and a rotating cast of leaders, but a lot of foreign direct investment as well. Nearly $35 billion was promised, largely in the electricity sector, where Egypt is unreliable at its best. Foreign funding was also earmarked to further al-Sisi’s ambitious projects, which include a extension on the Suez Canal, the refurbishment of the Golden Triangle region and the establishment of a new capital city to decompress overpopulation in Cairo.
While some of the recipient projects came under rightful scrutiny — many projects will create temporary jobs instead of permanent ones, and many criticized al-Sisi for ignoring the high unemployment rate — there can be no argument that Egypt accomplished the goal of attracting foreign decision-makers as well as foreign investment. There is still much to be done, as Egypt emerges from a half-decade of unrest and tries to untangle its strangled economy, but as a part of a larger whole, the EEDC sets a high bar.
The question now becomes, can the Egyptian conference be replicated in other African countries? Like Egypt, much of Africa is struggling with foreign cash injections as violence, political unpredictability and corruption scaring many investors away. That means that while the amount of overall investment to developing regions continues to rain down, there is a still a drought across much of the continent. Is there a Sudanese Economic Development Conference on the horizon? A Nigerian Investment Summit?
Perhaps, but there is currently a pan-African event that can serve as a stopgap in the meantime. The New York Forum AFRICA, which will hold its fourth annual event in Libreville, Gabon from Aug. 28-30, is organized by the same group as the EEDC (and the World Economic Forum). Richard Attias & Associates is a consultancy and management firm founded by Richard Attias, who was born in Morocco and has sought to empower native Africans ever since
The NYFA bills itself as the largest pan-African forum of the year, but it is really much more than numbers. A chance for politicians and titans of industry to rub shoulders — and hear from — young, driven people and community leaders, the NYFA wants to promote grassroots African growth alongside the foreign investment.
The 2014 event brought four massive contracts to Gabon, including a Microsoft IT Academy to be established in Libreville. Much like the EEDC can serve to energize the Egyptian economy, so does NYFA endeavor to catalyze the economies throughout the rest of the continent.