Monrovia – African countries have been working over the last decades to form African Unity through the formation of a strong African Union but major policy issues amongst countries continue to keep the dream at a peripheral level-with AU involved with holding regular meetings and making interventions in times of crisis in some member countries.
“We have had our own internal struggles over the years which might have shifted our attention from cementing our relationship with our sisterly African countries but we are looking to rebuild and make the relationship even stronger”- Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arab Republic of Egypt
The AU is yet to be successful in bringing all African countries under one umbrella with common currency and monetary policy, reducing travel restrictions from one country to another.
The dream of one Africa started decades ago when the Organization of African Unity was founded on May 25, 2963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but following the deaths or end of tenures in power of the main architects the dream nearly collapse until the organization was transformed into the African Union in the mid-1990s under the leadership of former Libyan leader Muammar Al-Gaddafi.
African countries are still afar from having an AU comparable to that of the United States of America (USA) with one Federal Government, budget and individual governors for various states.
Some countries with bigger economies and power have been working to bring African countries together-the likes of Libya under the late Gaddafi, South Africa, Nigeria and others countries are amongst the big players on the continent.
Nigeria has been mainly successful in having firm grip in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is made of 15 West African countries south of the Sahara giving Nigeria some major voice on the African continent.
New melting point
In recent years, the Arab Republic of Egypt has increased its engagement with African countries serving as the new melting point where professionals from many African countries meet to undergo capacity building and other forms of training programs.
Military personnel from various African countries including Ghana, Zambia, Uganda, Mali, Liberia, and many others have all received some form of trainings from the Egyptian Armed Forces within the last at least two years.
Professionals from other areas including health, energy, media and other professions also troop into Egypt on a regular basis to receive trainings and practical capacity building.
Through the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development, Egypt has over the last two years increased its collaboration with other African countries.
In his speech delivered at the twenty-third summit of the African Union in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, President Adbul Fattah Al-Sisi announced the launch of the Egyptian Agency for Development Partnerships.
The agency focuses largely on the support of major development projects in Africa and other developing states by focusing on key areas of development which Egypt has great experience in such fields as communication, transport, information technology, health services, agriculture and energy.
Current head of the EADP, Ambassador Hazem Fahmy says the agency is looking to build a strong collaboration amongst African countries.
Speaking to journalists and media practitioners from twenty-two African countries during a training course on “the Future of the Media in Africa” held from May 4 to 24 in Cairo, Egypt, Ambassador Fahmy said Egypt is seeking to play an essential role in bringing African countries closer and sharing experience through interactions.
Ambassador Fahmy said the EADP is receiving huge support from the government of Egypt to spearhead the strengthening of collaborations with sisterly African countries.
“We are happy to always invite our African sisters and brothers here from all across the continent to come and share their experiences with us and also learn new things from us”, said Ambassador Fahmy.
Ambassador Fahmy said with the level of support from the Government of Egypt, the collaboration between Egypt and other African countries will be further improved in the coming years.
Internal struggles shifted policy
Egypt took a downward trend in terms of its engagement with the rest of Africa, playing low profile role in the activities of the AU over the last decade but the country’s Minister of Affairs believes Egypt had been encountering internal struggles which might have led to its low key role in Africa.
“We have had our own internal struggles over the years which might have shifted our attention from cementing our relationship with our sisterly African countries but we are looking to rebuild and make the relationship even stronger”, said Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arab Republic of Egypt.
Minister Shoukry said in recent years Egypt has increased its support to African countries through capacity building to armies and other professionals.
Egypt, located in North Africa has a rich history very attractive to the entire world. Known as the birth place of modern civilization, the country has some of the known biblical and historical artefacts and physical features including the Rive Nile, Red Sea, Suez Canal and one of the wonders of the world-the Pyramids built thousands of years ago but are today still intact.
The northern country is ideally situated to the extent that it is transcontinental having, located in Africa and sharing borders with Asian countries.
Egypt is a member of the Arab League an organization of Arabic speaking countries and it is also a big player in affairs of the Middle East.
Samwar S. Fallah, [email protected]