AFCCA, EFCBC and Afreximbank Hold EPC Workshop in Cairo to Boost African and Egyptian Contractors’ Participation in Infrastructure Projects
Cairo, Monday, 8 December 2025
The African Federation for Construction Contractors’ Associations (AFCCA), headed by its President, Eng. Hassan Abdelaziz, co-organized a high-level workshop today at its headquarters in Cairo in close partnership with the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors (EFCBC). .
The workshop focused on Afreximbank’s Intra-African Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contract Promotion Initiative and explored ways to enhance the participation of Egyptian and African contractors in infrastructure projects across the continent. The initiative aims to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) by enabling African companies to successfully bid for, win, and execute infrastructure contracts in Africa through capacity building, twinning arrangements, market access opportunities, financing, guarantees, and technology solutions.
A delegation from Afreximbank, led by Mr. Ayman El Zoghby, Director, Trade, Investment & Corporate Finance, took part in the workshop, alongside Eng. Mohamed Samy Saad, Chairman of EFCBC, and representatives of 20 Egyptian contracting and engineering companies.
In his opening remarks, Eng. Hassan Abdelaziz, President of AFCCA, underlined the importance of the partnership with Afreximbank in creating more opportunities for African – and particularly Egyptian – contractors. He also congratulated Dr George Elombi on his appointment as President and Chairman of Board of Directors of Afreximbank, wishing him and the Bank every success in supporting trade, investment and infrastructure development in Africa.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Ayman highlighted Afreximbank’s strong commitment to promoting intra-African trade and investment through practical and targeted support for the construction and infrastructure sectors. He emphasized the Bank’s role in facilitating access to finance, providing risk mitigation instruments, and delivering structured financial solutions specifically tailored to the needs of EPC contractors operating across Africa. He further reinforced the importance of strengthening regional collaboration among African contractors, enhancing technical and institutional capacity, and improving competitiveness in the delivery of major infrastructure projects. He noted that such efforts are essential to enabling African firms to play a leading role in the continent’s infrastructure development and economic integration.
AFCCA Secretary-General, Ambassador Hatem Tageldin, delivered an introductory presentation on AFCCA, outlining its mandate as a continental federation for construction contractors, its membership across African countries, its role in advocacy and capacity-building, and its efforts to foster closer cooperation between African contractors and regional development finance institutions, including Afreximbank.
During the workshop, the Afreximbank delegation presented the key features of the EPC Initiative, by providing financing and facilitation services to support African contractors’ access to large-scale projects. They also presentedthe Bank’s Project Preparation Facility (APPF) aimed at increasing the availability of viable, well-prepared projects in Africa and at making such projects bankable and attractive to investors. This facility provides technical and financial support to early-stage companies in the preparation and development of projects from conceptual stage to bankability stage, the point at which such projects can attract interest from equity investors and debt financiers.
The delegation introducedthe Bank’s EPC Digital Platform, which isdesigned to enhance African participation in large-scale infrastructure projects, improve access to resourcesand tender opportunities across Africa and the Caribbean.
The workshop also featured EPC success stories and case studies from leading Egyptian companies, illustrating how Afreximbank’s financial instruments and support mechanismsdirectly enabled the successful execution of major infrastructure projects, while showcasing models that can be expanded across Africa.
The workshopalso included an open discussion with AFCCA, EFCBC and EPCrepresentatives, exploring how best to make use of Afreximbank’s instruments, identify a pipeline of potential projects and strengthen cooperation between the Bank and the contracting sector.
Eng. Hassan Abdelaziz reaffirmed AFCCA’s readiness to continue working with Afreximbank, EFCBC and AFCCA’s member federations to follow up on the workshop’s outcomes, identify concrete projects and help companies move from opportunity to implementation.
