FROM EIR DAILY ALERT

Egypt Broadening Its African Continental Policy

Feb. 14, 2019 (EIRNS)—In his two statements addressed to the opening and closing of the 32nd African Union summit on Feb. 10-11, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi stressed Egypt’s commitment to working with the pan-African organization and member states to consolidate national security, enhance development plans and promote moderation. For officials working on Cairo’s Africa policy, the three tracks el-Sisi highlighted are about strong military and police forces; expanding and upgrading infrastructure and confronting militant groups that promote radical religious views, Al Ahram Online reported today.

Al Ahram cited Amira Abdel-Halim, an expert on Egypt-African relations and researcher at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, saying “it makes perfect sense that Egypt commits itself to promoting security in these two zones.” These zones have seen several militant groups significantly undermine security and stability, not just in East Africa and the Sahel and Sahara but also in parts of West and North Africa. In June last year, Egypt saw the inauguration of the headquarters of the Sahel and Sahara Anti-Terror Centre.

Sources at the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Investment say that Egypt is trying hard to push development in Africa. Already, Egypt has proposed closer cooperation among the three economic sub-regional groupings—COMESA, ECOWAS and SADC that cover East, West and Southern Africa.