Madbouly enhances Mauritanian-Egyptian relations in Nouakchott

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Sun, 01 Jul 2018 - 05:54 GMT

BY

Sun, 01 Jul 2018 - 05:54 GMT

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly meets with his Mauritanian counterpart Yahya Ould Hademine in Nouakchott on July 1, 2018 - Press photo

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly meets with his Mauritanian counterpart Yahya Ould Hademine in Nouakchott on July 1, 2018 - Press photo

CAIRO - 1 July 2018: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly discussed on Sunday with his Mauritanian counterpart Yahya Ould Hademine ways to promote common cooperation between the two countries, in light of the important files, which will be tackled during the 31st African Union summit.

Madbouly arrived on Sunday to Mauritania’s Nouakchott to participate in the African Summit on the behalf of the President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

In the same context, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady told MENA that Egypt is keen on enhancing its relations with African countries as President Sisi placed the Egyptian-African ties among the top priorities of the foreign relations’ files and focused on the continent’s issues in most of his activities since assuming power in 2014.

He added that the file aims to intensify meeting with African leaders and visiting several African countries besides participating in the African summits, pointing out that such efforts resulted in promoting Egypt’s ties with African countries.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry arrived on Thursday in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, where he was received by Egyptian Ambassador to Mauritania Maged Nafea.

Shoukry is scheduled to take part in the 33rd ordinary session of the African Union’s executive council later in the day ahead of the 31st AU summit that will kick off on Sunday.

The 31st African Union summit launched on Sunday with the participation of 22 heads of states under the theme “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation".

Sisi’s several visits to the African countries since coming to power are considered to be a move which helped to spur Egyptian-African trade exchanges, investments, economic partnership and cooperation in various sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, vocational training, banking, mining and human development.

In June 2014, Sisi participated in the African Union Summit in the Equatorial Guinea as his first presidential visit within the continent, which was considered then a restoration of the African-Egyptian relations after years of neglect during Mubarak’s era.

Several short visits during 2015 followed the African Union Summit participation, including visits to Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda per Yuri Museveni's invitation in December 2016.

African Affairs Committee member in the Parliament, Hatem Bashat, told Egypt Today that it is true that the African-Egyptian relations were forgotten for a while, however “since Sisi took office, he started a new strategy aiming to restore our role within the continent.”

“This tour is a reflection of the Egyptian diplomacy with our African neighbors since 2014; we have strong points in our relations and long history to relay on,” Bashat further explained.

He added that Sisi has a fixed strategy during dealing with the African countries, “for example, with Rwanda, we are keen to develop investments; with Tanzania we discuss the water security files; while Chad is considered one of the crucial countries for our national security,” Bashat told Egypt Today.

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