Egypt ranked first among member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in terms of exports achieved in 2012, rising from second in 2011, the Cabinet said.
Egypt’s COMESA exports in 2012 rose 26.8% against 16% in 2011, the Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Centre revealed in a report.
Egypt topped the 19-member state entity in vegetable and fruit exports, making 70.3% of the COMESA’s in 2012, followed by Kenya 14.5% and Ethiopia 6.9%, the report said.
The volume of Egyptian exports to African countries retreated from EGP 12.1 billion in 2011 to EGP 9.7 billion in 2012, marking a 19.8% decline, the reported added.
Trade exchange between Egypt and African countries remains limited, standing at 5.2% of Egypt’s exports against 30.2% with Arab countries.
The size of Egyptian imports from African countries increased 5.4% to hit EGP 5.9 billion in 2012 against EGP 5.6 billion in 2011, the report further said.
Turning to Nile basin countries, Egypt’s trade exchange volume with them rose to EGP 4.8 billion versus EGP 2.9 billion in 2008.
Egypt also has the highest population in North Africa in 2013 with 82.1 million with a growth rate of 1.6%, followed by Algeria 39.2 million (1.9% growth rate) and Sudan 38 million (2% growth rate).
Libya has the highest urban population in Africa, recording 87.1% in 2013 with Algeria coming second with 74.7%, it added.
Sudan has the biggest unemployment rate in 2012 with 14.8% of the labor force, while Libya and Morocco have the least in North Africa with 8.9% and 9% respectively.
Source: SIS
