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November 25, 2020
CAIRO – Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi welcomed former Namibian President Sam Nujoma on November 14, who won the Kemet Boutros Ghali Foundation award in recognition of his efforts and achievements in dispute resolution in Africa. and his long struggle for the independence of Namibia.
Nujoma praised Egypt’s role under Sisi’s leadership in supporting efforts to ensure peace and security in Africa and its commitment to the “Silencing Guns in Africa by 2020” campaign launched by the African Union in 2013 to end wars and conflicts on the African continent.
Nujoma also highlighted the importance of Egypt as a main actor in joint African work and in the search for African solutions to African problems and the different peace and security problems on the continent, according to a statement by Egyptian presidential spokesman Bassam Radi.
Nujoma reiterated Namibia’s support for Egypt’s efforts to resolve the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis through negotiations, in a way that achieves the interests of the three countries involved: Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia.
Sisi affirmed Egypt’s enthusiasm for a binding legal agreement that guarantees its water rights while meeting the growth ambitions of the other countries.
Also on November 14, Sisi welcomed Zambian Foreign Minister Joseph Malanji, who delivered a message from Zambian President Edgar Lungu, expressing his willingness to develop bilateral relations and promote economic cooperation between the two countries. .
The Egyptian presidency stated in a Facebook post: “Sisi sends his regards to his brother, President Lungu, and affirms that Egypt attaches great importance to promoting its ties with Zambia in all sectors, mainly trade and investment. , either bilaterally or as part of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. ”
According to the Egyptian presidency, Malanji said, “Zambia looks forward to working with Egypt to meet various challenges on the continent.”
Egypt is working to cement its relations with African countries to improve its image in Africa, protect its water interests and strengthen its position on the GERD issue. Egypt and Sudan have been engaging in painstaking negotiations with Ethiopia regarding GERD for about a decade to reach an agreement on the operation and filling of the dam, which Egypt considers a major threat due to its impact on its part of the water. of the Nile.
Egypt also has a problem with the Entebbe Agreement that six upstream countries signed with Ethiopia in 2010. Egypt and Sudan reject it for not recognizing their historic involvement in water.
Egyptian policy towards Africa has changed since Sisi took office in 2014, and he has attended every regular and biannual African summit since 2014. Egypt even assumed command of the African Union six years after suspending its membership in July of 2013.
A senior Egyptian government official who wished to remain anonymous told Al-Monitor: “Egypt is building ties with African countries, especially in the Nile basin, relying on comprehensive development rather than just focusing on development of water resources or water cooperation “. The official, who has been participating in the GERD negotiations for years, said: “Building trust with African countries drives cooperation that results in desired results on the water issue.”
He added: “Encouraging Egyptian investment in Africa and agricultural and commercial exchange between African countries is the easiest way to resolve the water negotiations.”
Since 2018, Egypt has been building a huge dam on the Rufiji River to generate hydroelectric power in Tanzania with a capacity of 2,115 megawatts and a cost of $ 2.9 billion.
In Ghana, EgyptAir signed a memorandum of understanding in late October to establish a national airline in Ghana through joint investments by Ghana and Egypt.
Abbas Sharaqi, a professor at Cairo University’s African Institute for Research and Studies, said Egypt is trying to strengthen and restore its ties with all African countries, not just those in the Nile basin.
He told Al-Monitor: “Several African countries need essential infrastructure and development, and this is a golden opportunity for Egypt to increase its economic presence there. When relationships are based solely on political goals, they weaken. The economic foundations strengthen and support relationships ”.
He noted that “Namibia and Zambia have a say in the United Nations, and Egypt might need them to support its position on the GERD issue if it is referred to the Security Council once again.”
Mukhtar Ghobashi, deputy director of the Arab Center for Political Studies, said Cairo has made great strides in re-establishing relations in Africa since the failed assassination attempt on former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa in 1995. However, he believes that Egypt faces serious competition in the African market from many regional and international powers such as China, Turkey and France.
He told Al-Monitor: “The support announced by African countries like Namibia for the Egyptian position in the GERD negotiations will not discourage Ethiopia. They are nothing more than a moral or ethical support for Egypt. “
The latest round of GERD negotiations ended on November 19 with an agreement to continue negotiations for the next 10 days at the request of the South African Foreign Minister, who is the current AU president.
Sudan boycotted a new round of talks on November 21 and called on AU experts to play a bigger role in settling the dispute. The meeting was held in the presence of the irrigation ministers of Ethiopia and Egypt and representatives of the AU, the United States and the European Union, according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation. Egypt expressed hope that negotiations will resume in the presence of Sudan as one of the three countries involved in the GERD dispute. The participants agreed to draft their own vision of the negotiation path and send it to the AU.
Rakha Hassan, a member of the Egyptian Council on Foreign Relations, said the ongoing AU-sponsored negotiations for more than three months have yielded no positive results amid Ethiopia’s stubbornness and South Africa’s inaction.
Hassan told Al-Monitor: “South Africa is unlikely to make a breakthrough in the negotiations, as the end of his AU presidency approaches at the end of February, in light of recent developments and the conflict in Tigray “.
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