Egypt’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and Minister of Defence and Military Production, Mohamed Zaki, arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Tuesday, accompanied by a high-level military delegation.
Zaki’s official visit is set to last for several days. The visit is scheduled to witness a discussion of a number of files and issues of common interest and aspects of military cooperation between the two countries.
The visit comes within the framework of the strong ties linking Egypt and the DRC, and a continuation of the military cooperation relations between the Egyptian and Congolese armed forces, and within the framework of permanent and continuous coordination with African countries.
In May 2021, Egypt and Kenya signed a Technical Agreement on Defence Cooperation, with the aim of deepening the partnership between the two countries in matters of mutual benefit.
This agreement is the fourth defence pact between Egypt and African countries in 2021.
Egypt also signed a defence agreement with Sudan in March 2021. In addition, Egypt and Uganda signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on sharing military intelligence in April 2021, which will allow the intelligence agencies of both countries to exchange information “to combat terrorism”.
Also in April, Egyptian and Burundian armies inked a military cooperation agreement in the fields of training and joint exercise.
Additionally, Egypt and Rwanda agreed in May 2021 to increase the level of military cooperation, and held the first meeting of the Egyptian-Rwandan Joint Military Committee.
In February 2020, Egypt hosted the meeting of the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Five African Sahel Group (G5). On the sidelines of the meeting, Egypt’s Minister of Defence discussed bilateral military cooperation with his Senegalese counterpart.
These agreements come amid tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia over the filling and operation of the disputed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile.
