The Cairo meeting attended by President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and EU commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen culminated in the signing of deals worth billions of dollars.

The conference comes on the back of a $7.9 billion funding package agreed in March to support the north African country battle an economic crisis made worse by rising debt, inflation and currency shortages.

A series of small and medium term loans constitute the large majority of the package.

In exchange, Cairo must step up energy exports to Europe and action on irregular migrants. The EU has agreed similar deals with Tunisia, Mauritania and Libya, angering rights groups.

With huge natural gas deposits, the European Union sees Egypt as a key player in its efforts to replace Russian energy.

In his remarks, President Sissi said that Egypt was a prime destination for European investment. At the conference, european companies signed over 20 deals worth over