Egypt’s exports to COMESA member states increased by 32% in 2021’s first nine months: CAMPAS

Egypt’s exports to the COMESA member states jumped 32.4 percent during the first nine months of 2021, reaching $2.3 billion, compared to $1.7 billion during the same period in 2020, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

The value of Egyptian imports from COMESA countries amounted to $901 million during the first nine months of 2021, compared to $721 billion during the same period in 2020, with a 25 percent increase, CAPMAS said in a report on Tuesday.

The report was issued on same day when Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi assumed the chairmanship of COMESA during the opening of the 21st Summit of COMESA Heads of State and Government, which kicked off Tuesday morning at the New Administrative Capital.

Founded in 1994, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa bloc (COMESA) – a major marketplace for both internal and external trading – is comprised of 21 member states with a population of over 583 million people and a combined GDP of $805 billion. It covers almost two-thirds of the African continent with an area of 12 million square kilometres.

Among the COMESA member states, according to CAPMAS, Libya comes at the top of the list of the five countries importing from Egypt during the same period, with a total of $711 million, and Sudan came in second with $588 million, followed by Kenya, Tunisia, and Ethiopia with $248 million, $202 million, and $80 million respectively.

In a separate report, CAMPAS said that the value of Egypt’s total exports to Nile Basin countries during the same nine months was $1.1 billion, compared to only $835 million in 2020, with a 33.7 percent increase.

The value of Egypt’s total imports from the Nile Basin countries was $497 million in the same covered timeframe of 2021, compared to only $442 million last year, the CAPMAS said in a statement on Sunday.

CAPMAS further noted that Egypt’s exports to African Union countries in general witnessed a 37.8 percentage hike during the same period.

The total value of Egyptian exports to the African Union hit $3.9 billion during the first nine months of 2021, compared to only $2.8 billion during the same period last year, the official statistics agency said.

CAPMAS revealed that Egypt’s total imports to African Union countries increased by 30.2 percent during the first nine months to reach $1.4 billion, compared to only $1.1 billion in 2020.