Sisi receives Cote d'Ivoire's highest National Order of Merit

CAIRO – 12 April 2019: Egypt’s president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has received Cote d'Ivoire's highest National Order of Merit on Thursday, at a lunch banquet with Cote d'Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara.

According to statement issued by Egypt’s Presidency spokesperson Bassam Radi, Ouattara gave a speech during the ceremonies, during which he considered Sisi’s visit as historical event, as it’s the first of its kind by an Egyptian President.

Late Thursday, Sisi arrived in Senegal’s Capital, Dakar, as the fourth leg of his foreign tour that took him to Guinea, the United States and Cote d'Ivoire.

During his visit to Guinea on Monday, Sisi received the National Order of Merit, the highest award in Guinea, as well.

"I am pleased and grateful to receive this high order, which represents a historic bond of relations between both countries," President Sisi said in his speech to his Guinean counterpart Alpha Condé at a dinner banquet in Conakry, according to Radi.

President Sisi also invited Condé to visit Cairo in the nearest future, Radi added. President Sisi is the first Egyptian president to pay Guinea an official visit since 1965.