Egypt, the North African political giant that from 2011 to date has seen two leaders removed from power through the Arab Spring, seems keen to rekindle its African roots shaken successively by populist mass upheavals.
On July 3, 2013, president Mohamed Morsi was ousted after several days of widespread riots and non-violent civil resistance because of what the masses said were unpopular policies and his attempt to impose his religion on them.
Two years earlier, former president Hosni Mubarak suffered a similar a fate after the much-publicised January 25 Revolution of 2011 at the iconic Tahrir Square.
Dr Hazem Fahmy the Secretary General of the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) under the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi says the agency is mandated with granting technical co-operation and humanitarian assistance to countries across Africa and to Islamic countries.
“Egypt, as a founding member of the African Union, has the responsibility to enhance the development projects on our continent to promote a high standard of living among the African people,” he said.
Fahmy further stated that, “Egypt is also engaged in creating new forms of co-operation with serious partners that are capable of playing a major role in boosting the African aspiration consistent with the African Union (AU) Vision 2063.
He said, “Egypt dispatched five medical convoys to Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Chad and Equatorial Guinea since June 2014,” adding, “The medical convoys that EAPD dispatched contributed towards saving lives of thousands of Africans.”
Egypt also purchased medicines and ambulances that it sent to countries affected by Ebola such as Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea, he said upon enquiry.
Nile Basin countries such as Uganda, Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia have been among the largest recipients of multilateral and bilateral assistance from the Egyptian development agency, according to the secretary general of EAPD.
Namibia is one of the countries that Egypt is looking forward to strengthening its diplomatic and economic relations with. Egypt has, since 2008, dispatched teachers and other experts to Namibia, he said.
Several newspaper editors and senior radio producers from Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, among others recently travelled to Egypt to be briefed about its current political and economic initiatives to strengthen ties with the rest of Africa.
Speaking to New Era on the side-lines of a media briefing involving 28 newspaper editors and senior radio producers from 15 African countries, Fahmy elucidated EAPD “is determined to provide and to grant technical co-operation and humanitarian assistance to African and Islamic countries, organising training courses and workshops promoting the collaboration with the United Nations, developed countries, regional and international organisation within the framework of south-south co-operation, as well as contributing funding and in mobilising funds for development projects.”
One of EAPD’s key mandates is to provide capacity building to recipient African and Islamic countries. EAPD’s various technical co-operation activities being extended to various African countries include the recruitment and dispatching of Egyptian experts and consultants based on the long-term and short-term needs of recipient states.
Fahmy believes Egypt – the country of 90 million people and famed for its pyramids – has the capacity to help other African countries “to overcome their socio-economic challenges”.
“Egypt believes that agriculture, health, education and information technology are essential pillars to build the African Renaissance. The training facilities in Egypt are centres of excellence that utilise state-of-the-art technology to organise the requested courses and to ensure the transfer of knowledge,” stated Fahmy.
The expertise available from Egypt include: diplomacy; judiciary; transportation; communication and information technology; health care; agriculture; health care; police, crime prevention and terrorism; water management and irrigation; tourism; industrialisation and privatisation and public sector reform among other diverse fields of specialisation.
As part of its continued commitment to Africa, the Egyptian government allocates a yearly budget to enable EAPD to fulfil its commitments on the continent. EAPD’S trilateral co-operation partners include Japan: United Arab Emirates, Italy, Brazil, China, Singapore, the African Development Bank and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.