Egypt’s Parliament speaker embarks on African tour

CAIRO - 29 March 2019: Speaker of Egypt’s House of Representatives Ali Abdel Aal embarked on an African tour to Burundi and Tanzania on Friday at invitation of the parliament speakers of both countries, according to a statement issued from the Egyptian House of Representatives.

The African tour comes in light of enhancing Egypt’s relations with African countries on parliamentary levels amid Egypt’s presidency of the African Union this year, the statement added.

Burundi's Ambassador to Cairo Seliman Mousaon had met with Parliament's Committee of African Affairs headed by Tarek Radwan on November 26, 2018. Both sides discussed means of convergence between the executive and legislative authorities of the Parliament.

On the military cooperation level between Egypt and Burundi, the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production and the Ministry of Defense of Burundi signed a deal, per which Egypt will export 19 armed Leopard vehicles to Burundi’s Army on Friday.

As for the Egyptian relation with Tanzania, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met with Tanzania's Minister for Defense and National Service Hussein Mwinyi on March 14, 2019, discussing the ways of boosting the bilateral relations.

Sisi affirmed Egypt's keenness to enhance relations between Egypt and Tanzania in various realms, especially in light of Sisi's successful visit to Tanzania in August 2017, said presidential spokesman Bassam Radi in a statement. Sisi referred to the signing of an agreement between two countries to construct the Stiegler's Gorge Dam in Tanzania, which took place earlier.

The dam would be built by a coalition of The Arab Contractors Egyptian Company and El Sewedy Electric at a cost of $3.6 billion, according to earlier reports. Stiegler's Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station is expected to produce 5,920 GWh of power annually to fill the electricity and energy shortage in the country.