Angola, Mozambique and Egypt promote greater cooperation to promote tourism in Africa
Tourism leaders from Angola, Mozambique and Egypt argued that there is a need to strengthen cooperation and investment in tourism and tourism in Africa, in a panel discussion at the World Tourism Forum.
The session, titled “Africa Rises: Infrastructure tourism, youth employment, and attracting investment”, includes African tourism leaders, including Márcio de The Lopes, Minister of Tourism; Sherif Fathy, Egypt’s minister of politics and antiquities, and Mozambique’s secretary of state for tourism, Fredson Bacar. The panel was moderated by Abulfas Garayev, former Minister of Culture and Tourism (2006-2018).
During the discussion, the three participants examined the economic impact of tourism, its role in creating job opportunities and the importance of developing tourism infrastructure in Africa to attract continued investment.
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Among the points they met was the need to find a deep regulation in order to reach an agreement on “open skies” on the African continent, without obtaining permission to enter women, similar to what is happening today in Europe.
In his opening remarks, President Abulfas Garayev explained how Africa receives 74 million visitors in the year 2024, representing an increase of 7 percent compared to the epidemic levels and compared to 2023.
Projections show that the number of tourists will reach 82 million by the year 2025, showing the strongest recovery in the world.
Angola says investing in communication is important
The Minister of Tourism of Angola, Márcio de Jesus Lopes, called on African countries to strengthen cooperation and strategic investment to transform tourism and tourism throughout the continent. He stressed that collaboration, not competition, should guide Africa’s path to tourism development.
Lopes emphasized the need to invest in infrastructure and communication as the basic pillars of the development of the sector and mobility, especially in relation to the creation of airports, ports, roads and electricity.
“Africa must do more than compete and embrace cooperation among nations, based on regional success stories,” he said.
“We must learn from each other and build a strong bloc in Africa’s position as the best place in the world.”
He also emphasized that the true measure of success in attracting foreign investment is ensuring that the profits are returned to the local area to create jobs and increase livelihoods.
The Angolan Minister spoke about the country’s national development plan, which is supported by major systematic projects, including the Operational Fr António António ANTónio ANTónio ANTónio ANTónio ANTónio ANTónio ANTónio ANTóNin Air Airport, the Lobito Corridor, which connects the regions of Angola in COMORCICIC KOGORIC and Zambia.
These plans, he noted, “will strengthen regional integration, boost tourism and attract direct investment”.
Mozambique and sustainable tourism
In an interview with other speakers, said the secretary of the state of Mozambique tourism, Fredson Bacar, to emphasize the importance of using environmental sustainability in the tourism sector as a way to ensure its rapid development.
Remembering that the country was also recognized this week as the best tourist destination in the world World Tourism Awards 2025 Gala in Brussels, he pointed out that the sustainable use of natural resources, in addition to ensuring tourism, creates jobs and investment in the country, helping local communities.
As for the creation of job opportunities, he stressed the importance of establishing “cooperation with private companies to employ local young people”, who make up a large part of the Mozambican population.
He also pointed out that Mozambique faces environmental challenges due to the size of its land.
“It is impossible to create infrastructure and develop the whole country at the same time, we have 2,700 kilometers of coastline and 25 percent of the area is in nature conservation,” he explained.
According to the Minister, this also creates obstacles to investing in tourism, because there are regulations regarding the needs of investors in terms of environmental sustainability that must be respected.
Egypt as a success story
Sherif Fathy, the minister of tourism and antiquities, also highlighted the main challenges facing tourism and tourism abroad The harvestespecially in areas such as air connectivity, capital development and infrastructure investment.
The minister considered Egypt a success story in the expansion of the tourism sector, pointing to the government’s large investment in infrastructure, including roads, railways, airports and transportation networks that connect important tourist destinations.
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He highlighted the North Coast region as an example, which saw a “500 percent increase in air traffic this summer”, supported by three airlines that are currently being expanded to meet the growing demand.
He also emphasized the importance of combining academic training with practical internships in tourism and hospitality, to emphasize the importance of measures to prepare new qualified professionals in collaboration with international institutions.
As an example, he pointed to the recent establishment of a hotel school in Hurghada, developed in collaboration with a European partner, to train young people to find work in the tourism industry.
Sherif Fathy stressed that Egypt’s current tourism strategy includes focusing on various products and areas, from cultural and heritage tourism to beach, desert and eco-tourism.
The objective said, Egypt became “the best tourist destination in the world in the coming years given its unique experience”.
He also emphasized the need for new marketing tools, pointing out that “artificial intelligence now plays an important role in understanding the interests of travelers and tourism products for certain segments of society”.
