Spokesman: Development, settling crises main focus of Sisi’s Africa tour talks

Egyptian Presidency Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said Wednesday that the current African tour of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, which includes Angola, Zambia and Mozambique, will focus on several important issues pertaining to ways to strengthen bilateral relations in the political, economic and trade fields and means of settling conflicts in Africa.

In statements to reporters, he said that President Sisi will hold important bilateral talks in the Angolan capital with his Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenco, followed by plenary talks attended by delegations of both countries on a number of issues of common interest, especially building strong relations and strengthening co-operation in all fields, especially developmental ones such as construction, energy and the infrastructure.

Angola, which is witnessing economic growth, is looking forward to expanding areas of cooperation with brotherly countries, led by Egypt, he added.

The talks will also deal with issues related to North Africa, other hotbeds of conflict and the Sudanese crisis, in addition to the activity of the Angolan president and his country in settling disputes, whether through the Conference of the Great Lakes States, or the southern and central African region, he added.

President Sisi, the first Egyptian president to visit Angola, will be participating after that in the COMESA Summit in Zambia and visiting Mozambique, he said.

Egypt’s presidency of these institutions reflected the confidence of African countries in their role and leadership, whether at the level of the African Union or the COMESA, which is a huge gathering that includes 21 countries with a large volume of inter-trade and huge economic potential, he added.

Egypt is one of the largest contributors to the volume of intra-trade within the COMESA, which is an important gathering for Egypt which it has chaired during the past two years. Egypt also chaired the NEPAD Steering Committee and all of this is a clear sign and indication of the active and effective Egyptian role that stems from genuine interest and honesty in dealing with the African countries as brothers with common goals and one destiny, he pointed out.