Egyptian, Djiboutian presidents confer over Horn of Africa issues, joint projects

CAIRO – 27 May 2021: After convening bilaterally and with officials of both countries, the presidents of Egypt and Djibouti held a press conference Thursday to present the outcome.

"It is my pleasure to be the first president of the Arab Republic of Egypt to hold a state visit to Djibouti, which plays a pivotal role in the region," President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said inaugurating his speech.

The president stated he had carried out "fruitful and constructive consultations" with counterpart. The talks examined ways of bolstering and developing bilateral ties on the political, economic, security, and military levels. That will be achieved by boosting trade exchange rates, and intensifying cooperation in the field of capacity-building through training courses offered by the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD).

"In that context, we agreed on the salience of joint work to secure the support necessary to increasing Egyptian investments in Djibouti and paving the way for Egyptian firms to take part in infrastructure projects, and for Egyptian goods to enter the Djiboutian market. We will also go forward with launching a branch of Banque Misr in Djibouti. Similarly, we agreed on the importance of accelerating the measures of establishing a logistics zone in Djibouti in the coming period to facilitate the export of various Egyptian goods. That is in addition to reinforcing cooperation in sectors of priority, mainly transportation, port linkage, and healthcare. Coordination is already underway to build an Egyptian hospital in Djibouti. There is also cooperation in the fish farming field," President Sisi elaborated.  

Moreover, both presidents agreed on expanding efforts pertinent to combating extremist thought in order to contribute to strengthening stability in the Arab World and Africa. Egypt will let Al Azhar train preachers working towards that goal.  

The Egyptian president noted that such congruence and joint projects are the result of bilateral cooperation over the past period.

"Our bilateral consultations today come in light of exceptional circumstances East Africa and the Horn of Africa are going through as they are experiencing conflicts and clashes. Some of their countries are even struggling with establishing security and stability. Hence, we tackled the general status of the region…and agreed on…working jointly to prevent the extension of the scope of conflicts to neighboring states, which would jeopardize peace and security on our dear African continent," the President Sisi added.

The president stated that Egypt and Djibouti would intensify cooperation on matters related to the security of the Red Sea.

"I presented the updates on the Renaissance Dam issue, which is relevant to the vital interests of the whole region. And, I asserted the certainty to reach a fair and balanced agreement on the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam as soon as possible in a way that preserves the interests of all parties and reinforces cooperation and integration among countries and peoples of the region. I also stressed Egypt's rejection to any attempt to impose a fait accompli through unilateral measures that disregard the interests and rights of the two downstream countries," the Egyptian president declared.

President Sisi concluded by inviting the Djiboutian counterpart to visit Egypt so they would continue consultation and coordination expressing confidence that the partnership between both states will be consolidated in the upcoming period because of the similarities in visions and the strong political willpower of both countries.