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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 May 2000 Issue No. 480 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 4 - 10 May 2000 Issue No. 480
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters A bridge to Africa
By Dina Ezzat
A national reconciliation in Sudan, farm-land riots in Zimbabwe, inter-African trade, the continent's security and stability and Cairo's bilateral relations with African countries have been, and will be, commanding a major segment of the attention of Egyptian foreign policy-makers. This attention to African issues has been the rule for the past three years. And it is bound to pay off.
In 1997, Egypt decided it was time that Africa became one of its high priorities. "It is not that Africa was ever out of focus for Egypt, but we decided that we need to invest more in reinforcing our traditional relations with Africa in order to forge ties that take into consideration the new priorities of today's world: trade and economic cooperation," said Ibrahim Hassan, assistant foreign minister for African affairs. Three years down the road, Egypt has gone a long way in rebuilding bridges within Africa.
The schedule of Foreign Minister Amr Moussa is indicative of this Africa-oriented policy.
Earlier this week, Moussa had a long meeting in Cairo with Nathan Schmuyarira, the Zimbabwean trade and industry minister, to discuss the farm-land problem in Zimbabwe.
"I briefed Foreign Minister Moussa about the outcome of our discussions with the British government in London [on Friday]. And, I also told him that we would like [Egypt] to join efforts in assisting [Zimbabwe] to approach the British government [for funds to compensate displaced farmers]," Schmuyarira told reporters.
On 27 April, Moussa stopped over in Khartoum for a meeting with his Sudanese opposite number, Mustafa Osman Ismail, on the joint Egyptian-Libyan initiative for a national reconciliation in Sudan. Four months earlier, Moussa was in Khartoum for talks with top Sudanese officials on the same issue.
"These two closely held visits provide a very clear signal of how Egyptian-Sudanese bilateral relations have improved following nearly a decade of bumpy ties," commented an Egyptian diplomatic source.
Progress, slow as it may be, is being made in the effort to reconcile the Sudanese government with its northern and southern opposition. "The fact that we, together with the Libyans, are making progress there is partially due to the fact that we have good relations with both the Sudanese opposition and the government," the source added.
Within the coming few weeks, Egypt's ambassador to Sudan, Mohamed Assem, will be making arrangements with Sudanese officials for the preparatory meeting of a joint Egyptian-Sudanese committee in Khartoum at experts level. The committee will later hold a foreign ministerial meeting in Cairo.
But beyond Sudan, which is of particular interest for Egypt, Cairo is also working to give a boost to its ties with other African countries.
Last Thursday, Moussa, accompanied by Minister of Electricity Ali El-Sa'idi and Hussein El-Gamal, chairman of the Social Development Fund, arrived in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. The three officials took part in meetings of the joint Egyptian-Zambian Committee that assessed the prospects of future cooperation between the two countries. Egypt has been very keen on setting up joint committees with African countries. Egyptian officials argue that even in cases where only limited cooperation results, these committees provide a platform for Cairo to keep in contact with African capitals to make sure that Egyptian-African ties are maintained.
Moussa was also in Lusaka to take part in the first foreign ministers meeting of COMESA (the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa). The meeting marked a clear switch in the direction of politics for this grouping which for nearly a decade has been primarily economic.
This meeting convened in response to a proposal by Egypt, which joined COMESA last year. "It was our idea that the many political disputes between COMESA member-states are bound to negatively affect the prospects of common trade and investment. Therefore, we proposed these meetings that do not aim to work out political solutions for these disputes as such, but rather to make sure that the impact of these disputes on common trade and economic cooperation is curtailed," commented an Egyptian official.
COMESA is a favourite among the many sub-regional groupings that were recently joined or approached by Egypt. The reason is that the 20 other COMESA member-states provide a very convenient market for Egyptian exports that are not ready, as yet, to compete in, say, the European market. Moreover, COMESA members include the Nile Basin states that are of obvious strategic importance for Egypt.
By joining COMESA, Egypt was pursuing a political and economic agenda. But Cairo has more work to do on this agenda.
Early next week, Egypt will be taking part in the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa. The conference will be held in Abuja, Nigeria, under the auspices of the Organisation of African Unity [OAU]. And, a COMESA summit is scheduled for mid-May in Mauritius. "This is a very important meeting because it will be the first before the declaration of the COMESA free-trade area in October," Moussa said.
More Africa-related meetings are in the pipeline. In June, Egypt will be taking part in the African Economic Conference in Durban and, in July, Egypt will be present at an OAU summit in Togo.
The question is whether these efforts along the African front have been paying dividends. After all, Egypt's exports to Africa have not registered a significant increase. Egypt's relations with Ethiopia continue to be tense. And Egyptian-Sudanese relations, while improving, are still over-burdened by old problems that once caused the rift between the two Nile Valley states.
But Egyptian and African diplomats say that Cairo's renewed interest in Africa is bound to pay off, even if it is later rather than sooner.
"The fact that Egyptian exports to, and investments in, the African market continue to be limited is due to the reluctance of the private sector. Egyptian businessmen are not doing enough to court the African market. They have to work on it," commented an Egyptian official.
And relations with Ethiopia are "under control," Egyptian diplomats argue. The tension is still there but there is also a greater understanding now, a diplomat said. He explained that "in the past, Egypt did not get a positive response when we suggested projects for Nile water cooperation to the Ethiopian government, but now it is more open-minded. This is a beginning."
As for Egyptian-Sudanese relations, officials on both sides argue that no relapses are expected. "We are not saying that relations are in perfect shape, but we believe that there is sufficient high-level political will on both sides to work on improving relations further," a Sudanese diplomat said.
Egypt seems to be satisfied with the outcome of its work on Africa so far. However, it is also clear that a few more years are needed before Egypt can revive its "traditional strong ties with Africa" that coincided with the struggle for African independence in the 20th century.
