Egypt has officially deposited the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) ratification instrument, announced Egyptian Ambassador to Addis Ababa Osama Abdel Khalek on Monday. “A few minutes ago, I officially deposited Egypt AfCFTA ratification instrument,” tweeted Abdel Khalek. He said Egypt is the 18th depositor of the agreement, adding that four countries still need to sign in order for it to enter into force. He also stressed that the activation of the AFCFTA is among the priorities which President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi announced. Notably, 52 out of 55 member states in the African Union signed up to AfCFTA that must be ratified by 22 states to come into force. On the other hand, Egypt’s Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr met with a number of Jordanian companies investing in Egypt on the sidelines of preparing for the higher Egyptian-Jordanian Committee. The committee is scheduled to be held in Cairo soon and will be co-chaired by the two countries’ premiers. It will also be attended by Egyptian Ambassador to Jordan Sherif Kamel, Adviser to the Egyptian Investment Minister Reda Bebars and Assistant to the Investment Minister Khaled Ayad. Nasr pointed to the depth of the Egyptian-Jordanian joint relations and to the Egyptian governments constant readiness to develop these relations, especially at the investment level. She called on Jordanian companies to increase their investments in Egypt, which currently amount to about $600 million dollars. Egypts investments in Jordan amounted to about one billion dollars, represented by the 499 Egyptian companies operating in the Kingdom, Nasr said. In light of the Ministrys efforts to facilitate the investors’ work and remove any obstacles facing them, Nasr said her Ministry cooperated with the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones and launched an initiative to communicate with investors, discuss their suggestions and try to find solutions for the problems facing them in Egypt.