Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Badr Abdellatti met with African ambassadors appointed to Cairo on Wednesday, in a series of talks with diplomats.
During the meeting, Abdellatti emphasized that Egypt gives top priority to developing and strengthening relations with African countries.
He outlined plans to strengthen organizational and institutional mechanisms to promote bilateral relations with all African countries, based on common principles of solidarity and cooperation across all sectors. He also emphasized the importance of promoting regional and continental integration to achieve sustainable development.
As one of the founding members of the African Union and a current member of the Peace and Security Council, Mr. Abdellatti highlighted Egypt’s efforts to promote peace, security and stability across the African continent.
He emphasized Egypt’s role in leading joint African efforts to confront the challenges facing the continent and address the root causes of conflicts to ensure sustainable peace.
Mr. Abdellatti also emphasized the importance of Egypt's vision of linking peace, security and development, championed by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and exemplified by Egypt's leadership in post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
The Minister reviewed Egypt’s position on several key issues affecting the security and stability of the African continent, including Sudan, Somalia, Libya and the development of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
Mr. Abdellatti emphasized Egypt’s commitment to safeguarding the continent’s interests and advocated for a unified African voice in international institutions.
He called for support for the Ezulwini Accord and the Sirte Declaration to address the historical injustice of Africa’s lack of permanent representation on the Security Council. He also called for reforms to make the global financial structure and international financial institutions fairer and fairer to developing countries.
The Minister emphasized Egypt’s development role in Africa through the activities of the Egyptian Development Partnership Authority, which implements capacity building programs for human resources and institutions.
He also outlined the Agency’s funding of development projects that meet the humanitarian needs of African countries.
He also discussed the role of the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, which serves as the African Union’s center of excellence.
He reviewed the Center’s training programs in areas such as extremism, migration, countering refugees, and other issues related to peace, security and development.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister emphasized the need to strengthen commercial and investment cooperation among African countries to meet the needs and aspirations of African peoples for inclusive development.
Mr. Abdellatti stressed the importance of invoking the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to strengthen the continent’s integration and facilitate trade between African countries.
Mr. Abdellatti also emphasized the importance of deepening existing cooperation mechanisms and exploring new opportunities to comprehensively develop political, cultural and economic relations. He spoke about the active role of Egyptian companies in Africa, especially in the construction and infrastructure sector.
The meeting was attended by Khalid El Anany, Egypt’s candidate for UNESCO Director-General, whose candidacy was unanimously approved by the African Union and who will serve as Director-General from 2025 to 2029.
Mr. El Anany outlined ideas and proposals for developing UNESCO’s work and its activities and initiatives related to education, science, culture, communication and information, providing a comprehensive overview of the main pillars of his electoral vision. An overview was presented. His vision drew praise and appreciation from African ambassadors.
During the meeting, the foreign ministers asked African ambassadors to accelerate the relocation of embassies to the country’s new administrative capital, following the relocation of the Egyptian government to the new city.
Mr. Khaled Abbas, Chairman and Managing Director of the New Administrative Capital for Urban Development Company, outlined the main features of the capital and the provision of all necessary facilities to ensure a smooth transition of the embassy into the diplomatic district. He outlined the company’s efforts to do so.
