Written by A. Muhammad Mamdouh For decades, the world has been ablaze with economic competition and conflict, with attempts by regional and international powers to impose their hegemony and extend their economic influence over areas where there are global economic reserves of natural resources, especially energy sources, which are considered the main controller of the global economy. The Middle East region in general, and the African continent in particular, are considered among the regions that international powers are struggling over, due to their promising investment opportunities and global reserves of natural resources, most notably various sources of energy, at a time when these reserves are close to being exhausted in many regions of the world, which qualifies the African continent in the near future to be the economic destination of the world, due to the investment opportunities it possesses with great economic returns. This situation constitutes the main reason for the international conflict in the African arena, as regional and international powers seek to secure their access to the largest... A degree of economic opportunity in the African department. This conflict and international economic competition, within Africa, takes different forms of hegemonic attempts and methods of extending influence, whether by resorting to hard forces, such as political or military pressure, which is what we are seeing now in the Red Sea and North Africa. Or resort to soft power, which aims to positively influence the conscience of the collective mind of African peoples, by employing and investing in cultural, scientific and social activities, to create a positive image around the hegemonic state seeking influence. The case of “Israel” in Africa is considered a living example of using soft powers to achieve economic opportunities, as “Israel” is present within African societies, at the cultural, educational, and even sporting levels as well, and it uses that presence to draw a sentimental image around itself as a peace-advocating country, whether among citizens or political leaders in Africa, which facilitates it obtaining the largest amount of investment opportunities in many African countries. During the past few years, the Egyptian state has been seeking to restore and maximize its regional and international role, amidst this conflict between regional and international powers, and the intersection of interests between them, in the Middle East and Africa region, where the importance of Africa to the Egyptian state is due to the fact that it represents, strategically, its backyard. It also possesses promising economic opportunities and an emerging consumption market, which can contribute to achieving economic leaps for the Egyptian state, if it can be invested well. On its way to strengthening its African presence, the Egyptian state is pursuing maximizing possible sources of soft power. It has, in addition to building balanced economic relations with the countries of the African continent, based on the common interests and destiny of all parties. What we are presenting here and highlighting is that there is a resource possessed by Egyptian society that has not yet been seriously employed in achieving influence, emotionally and culturally, in African societies, namely Egyptian national NGOs, which possess a clear vision of the interests of the Egyptian state, as those NGOs can play an influential role in that regard, within the African environment if the organization and resources are available for that, and with the independence and ease of regional and international movement they possess, by extending their arms to cooperate with African NGOs, and Community presence, socio-cultural developmental impact in Africa, contributing to formulating a positive image of the Egyptian state, within African societies, and enhancing the presence and common interests, between African societies and Egyptian society. It is not a new role for NGOs. Many Arab relief organizations, which are NGOs in the Arab Gulf states, played an influential role in Africa, by strengthening the Arab presence there - before the events of September 11 - and American or Western international NGOs also played the same role, within many Third World countries, under the principle of rapprochement between peoples, spreading international peace, and coexistence based on human rights, and promoting freedoms. Emotional influence on peoples, and painting a positive image, is one of the motivators. To preserve mutual interests between peoples, and even work to develop them, which is a role that we hope Egyptian NGOs will play, even collectively, and not individually. From this platform, I call for the establishment of a civil union, among the major civil organizations in Egypt, aiming to extend the arms of development work to Africa, under the name of the Egyptian-African Union for Peace and Sustainable Development, and to work through it within the African circle, in support of the efforts and plans of the Egyptian state in Africa, and to build a positive image of the Egyptian state among the African citizen, and to strengthen Egyptian-African community dialogue.