SA, Egypt to prioritise peace in Africa

At the same time that African

heads of mission in Pretoria were being briefed by President Cyril

Ramaphosa on South Africa’s priorities for the AU this week, in Cairo, a group of African editors was at Egypt’s foreign ministry.

There they were briefed by Egypt’s Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for African Affairs, Hamdy Louza who said he believed South Africa has a major role to play on the continent in the coming period.

Ramaphosa is due to take over the year-long chairship of the AU from Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Louza said the two presidents met in Egypt and there was ongoing communication between the Egyptian and South African delegations to the AU.

In his briefing, Ramaphosa referred to the importance of resolving conflicts and promoting peace on the continent, two priorities which were shared by Egypt and where Louza

said South Africa could play an important role.

Rampaphosa listed economic integration as an objective in the year ahead, and highlighted the

importance of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

On the opposite end of the

continent, Louza said while “turning agreements into action” was desired, including the concept, greater effort was still required to make it a reality.

Ramaphosa highlighted good

governance and women’s empowerment, also key themes for Egypt.

Louza said while Egypt was

handing over the chair to South Africa, its role as an active participant on the continent would continue. In particular it would focus on

achieving peace, development and regional integration.

The editors are guests of the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development - launched in 2014 as an affiliate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to co-ordinate Egypt’s co-

operation efforts in Africa and with Islamic countries.

The tour presented an opportunity to review Egypt’s ambitious

development in recent years, including the new administrative capital being built between Cairo and Suez.

The capital is a 700km² smart city with the first phase including a new parliament and all the ministries, a new financial district, an airport, and homes and facilities for residents. Overall, the new city is expected to house more than 6million people.

In addition, the tour showcased mutually beneficial partnerships, such as with foreign universities, and

some of the technological advances that Egypt would like to share to promote peace and help accelerate the development of other countries on the continent.

Pretoria News