President Abdel Fattah El Sisi reaffirmed Egypt’s commitment to supporting stability in Sudan during a meeting in Cairo yesterday with the head of Sudan’s Transitional Military Council, Abdel Fattah El Burhan, Ittihadiya said in a statement. The visit marked El Burhan’s first international trip since autocrat Omar Al Bashir was ousted in April.

The African Continental Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will come into effect (on paper) this Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement yesterday. The heavy lifting starts at a 7 July meeting of heads of state in Niamey, Niger, that will finalize work on everything from rules of origin to a digital payment and settlement platform, Ahram Online writes.

Exports from freezones plunged 52% y-o-y in 2Q2018-19 to USD 1.1 bn, compared to EGP 2.4 bn a year earlier, central bank data shows (pdf pp. 85-86 – table 27). Net trade during 2Q2018-2019 was USD 89 mn of net exports, compared to USD 947 mn last year.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi canceled his scheduled trip to Zambia over the weekend, local media reported, citing domestic reasons. El Sisi instead held a phone conversation with Zambian president Edgar Lungu to discuss regional affairs, according to an Ittihadiya statement.