Angola’s Lourenço Co-Chairs AUDA-NEPAD Summit in Egypt

Angolan President João Lourenço will co-chair the inaugural Alamein Africa Forum in Egypt from 2 to 4 October 2026, placing Angola at the centre of a new continental push on trade, energy and critical minerals.

Angolan President João Lourenço is co-chairing the AUDA-NEPAD summit of founding states with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the Alamein Africa Forum in New Alamein from 2 to 4 October 2026. The event, organised by Egypt, the African Union, AUDA-NEPAD and Afreximbank, is expected to draw about 1,500 officials, business leaders and investors.

A platform for Angola’s institutional weight

Lourenço’s co-chair role is not ceremonial. He leads the AUDA-NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee, the body steering the African Union Development Agency’s strategic direction.

The forum also brings together the agency’s founding states and coincides with the African Union’s Mid-Year Coordination Meeting on 4 October. That sequencing gives Lourenço a chance to shape the agenda before the broader continental gathering.

The agenda covers trade, food and energy security, infrastructure, finance, digital transformation, artificial intelligence and critical minerals. For Angola, the critical minerals track is especially relevant as it seeks to move beyond oil.

Oil dependence remains the central constraint

Angola’s economy still leans heavily on hydrocarbons. Oil accounts for more than 90% of exports and about 60% of government revenue.

According to IMF estimates, production fell from 1.10 million barrels per day in 2024 to 1.03 million in 2025. That decline puts pressure on a budget already stretched by debt service.

The economy nevertheless grew 3.5% from a year earlier in the first quarter of 2025. Public debt stood at about US$64.8 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2025.

A shifting creditor map

Angola is quietly diversifying who it borrows from.

This shift gives Lourenço more room to negotiate.

He can now balance Chinese infrastructure finance, Western capital markets, US engagement and African institutional leadership. Oil dependence and debt service remain the hard limits on that flexibility.

The great-power contest in Central Africa

The Alamein Africa Forum sits inside a wider competition for influence across the continent. Egypt is positioning itself as a gateway between African markets and Gulf capital.

Angola, meanwhile, is using its AUDA-NEPAD chairmanship to project leadership from Central Africa. The forum’s focus on critical minerals aligns with the global race for cobalt, lithium and rare earths.

Lourenço’s presence in New Alamein signals that Luanda wants a seat at the table where African infrastructure and energy deals are shaped. That ambition fits the broader pattern covered in Africa: The New Scramble.

What Egypt gains from the partnership

For Cairo, having Lourenço co-chair adds weight to a new forum that needs credibility. Egypt wants to anchor itself as a convening power for African business.

The presence of Afreximbank, headquartered in Cairo, reinforces that ambition. The bank’s involvement connects the forum to trade finance across the continent.

Egypt also benefits from Angola’s relationships with Lusophone Africa and its growing ties to Western capital markets. The partnership is a two-way street.

What to watch after New Alamein

The forum runs from 2 to 4 October 2026, with the African Union’s eighth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting following shortly after. Any commitments made in New Alamein could resurface there.

Investors should watch whether Angola announces new partnerships in critical minerals or energy transition projects. Lourenço’s team has been clear that diversification is a priority.

The real test will be whether forum rhetoric translates into financing deals. With public debt at about $64.8 billion, Angola needs investment that generates revenue rather than adds liabilities.

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