CAIRO, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi said on Thursday that nearly 500 billion U.S. dollars were spent on the country's infrastructure projects in the past seven years.

       "Adequate infrastructure is the key for development and luring investments," Sisi said in a televised speech during one of the sessions of the 2022 African Export-Import Bank's 29th Annual Meetings (AAM2022) held in Egypt's New Administrative Capital east of Cairo.

       However, what has been implemented so far only covers 10 percent to 12 percent of Egypt's total territory of 1 million square km, according to the president.

       African countries have enormous agricultural potential but lack the infrastructure to manage their natural resources, Sisi said, urging global major banks to provide loans for Africa to upgrade its infrastructure for development projects.

       The AAM2022, which runs until Saturday, hosts more than 3,000 participants from African central banks, governments and international organizations.