President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt (Right) and President-elect Paul Kagame on the sidelines of African Union Summit Kigali, 18 July 2016
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is expected in Kigali this week as part of a state visit to strengthen Egyptian-African cooperation.
In a 2-day state visit in Rwanda – August 15-16, Sisi will meet President-elect Paul Kagame for bilateral talks.
The Egyptian leader’s itinerary will also include Chad, Gabon and Tanzania, according to Dr Namira Negm, the Ambassador of Egypt to Rwanda.
“The tour aims mainly at clarifying Egypt’s situation on the outstanding issues; consolidate political and economic relations as well as discuss ways of handling crisis and challenges facing Africa especially terrorism,” Amb. Negm is quoted in media reports.
During the 27th African Union General Assembly in Kigali – July 2016 President Sisi called for more efforts to rapidly develop the continent. It was a first visit to Rwanda by an Egyptian leader.
Egypt and Rwanda enjoy excellent and diversified relations in many political, economic, cultural, and developmental fields. Egypt Embassy in Rwanda was opened in 1975.
Both countries share common interests in various regional and international issues, in addition to their membership in different regional organizations including the COMESA, the NEPAD initiative, the African Union, and the Nile Basin Initiative.
Meanwhile, the last visit by president-elect Kagame to Egypt was in March 2015 when he participated in the Egypt Economic Conference.
