Egypt needs to bring Africa to the table, but that’s only part of the story

Egypt has built awareness among US companies that it can serve as a gateway to Africa. The next step? Turning awareness into agreements by bringing African governments and business leaders into the room to discuss and identify specific projects, sectors, and opportunities, VP of Middle East Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce Steve Lutes said during a media roundtable at AmCham Egypt’s Doorknock Mission to Washington, DC EnterpriseAM attended last week.

Location, location, location

“Egypt already has some things built in that you can’t just create, and part of it is geography,” Lutes said, “You can’t move through the Middle East without having Egypt front and center.” With geography and supply chains already working in our favor, companies were already “rethinking supply chains” to ensure “redundancy,” he added.

Africa is where the pitch needs to become actionable, and the gateway narrative needs to be backed by a clearer business case and real pipelines of projects, Lutes said. “I think we haven’t really answered the why,” he noted. This year’s Egypt-US Economic Forum should focus on execution rather than broad messaging, he added, stressing the importance of pairing large sessions with “one-on-one” discussions to understand what this company is looking for.

Widening the zone

Organizers are seeking to designate the forum as a US Department of Commerce Certified Trade Mission to significantly widen the pool of participating companies. The move could “open the door to a lot of companies that haven’t even ever stepped foot in Egypt, or maybe even the Middle East,” particularly firms that “may have never went beyond” their home markets and could use Egypt as a first entry point, Lutes noted.

Which sectors hold the most promise? The Chamber sees strong potential for US companies using Egypt as a base in sectors such as logistics, construction, power, agribusiness, and services, Lutes said. The opportunity lies in linking these sectors to specific projects across African markets rather than presenting them in the abstract, he explained.

Unlocking this opportunity requires more than positioning, including better identification of bankable projects and coordination across stakeholders, Lutes said. The focus should be on “targeted project identification and dynamic, multilateral commercial cooperation, alongside clearer pathways to financing and support tools,” he noted.

What companies are looking for

Companies prioritize predictability, regulatory clarity, and fair competition, Lutes said. They are looking for “a level playing field,” alongside “regulatory consistency” and “clear and enforceable dispute resolution,” with financing tools such as DFC and Ex-Im Bank also needing to be more accessible to “bring more confidence, more clarity,” he explained.

A freetrade agreement is unlikely in the near term, but that should not delay incremental improvements. “Let’s be realistic and know that that’s probably not in the cards anytime soon,” he said.