President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi arrived at the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa Saturday to participate in the meetings of the 30th African Union (AU) Summit on Sunday, according to a statement from presidency spokesperson Bassam Rady.
The summit is being held under the slogan “Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa’s Transformation.”
Al-Sisi is set to chair the meeting of the African Peace and Security Council (PSC). The council will discuss combating cross-border terrorism in Africa.
During his two day visit to Addis Ababa, the president is set to participate in a tripartite summit with his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Bashir and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, according to the presidency statement.
It is believed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will top the discussions between the three leaders amid controversy about the dam’s reservoir and its possible impacts on downstream countries, especially Egypt.
Ten days ago, the Ethiopian prime minister stressed from Cairo his country’s commitment to work with technical experts regarding the GERD, asserting that Ethiopia understands Egypt’s concerns over the dam, which he stressed it will not affect Egypt’s water security.
During their meeting, Al-Sisi and Desalegn signed several bilateral agreements included an agreement for cooperation in the industrial field to establish an Egyptian economic zone in Ethiopia.
However, relations between Egypt and Sudan have been strained in the past few weeks over Halayeb and Shalateen triangle, which Sudan claims to be Sudanese land. Meanwhile, Sudan has also accused Egypt and Eritrea of trying to attack it. The accusations were denied by Al-Sisi.
