Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed his country’s position on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue and its interest and desire to reach a legally binding agreement, in accordance with international law and through negotiations and peaceful solutions that achieve the interests of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.
Shoukry said in a joint press conference on Wednesday with his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor: “Egypt seeks rapprochement and cooperation and stressed on several occasions, the existence of great opportunities for bilateral and trilateral cooperation between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia to achieve security and stability.”
For her part, the South African Foreign Minister pointed out that the African Union (AU) has a responsibility to end the discussions on the GERD file and the need for the three countries to work in accordance with the binding agreements so as not to end a chaotic situation and the files are open on the table and must be engaged and discussed.
She pointed out the importance of cooperation between countries and it became necessary to encourage the AU to take the lead in these files, including the GERD file.
Shoukry stressed the importance of continuing coordination, consultation and consensus on visions that serve the interest of Egypt and South Africa to face all the challenges facing the two countries
He pointed to the importance of working to strengthen stability in the African continent and activate the AU plan 2063, and the challenges related to combating terrorism and extremism in the African continent
The Foreign Minister stressed the importance of cooperation with brothers in the African continent, pointing out that Egypt has a great role in supporting South Africa in the liberation from the apartheid regime in the country after a struggle for years led by Nelson Mandela.
Shoukry stressed that Egypt is proud of its relations with African countries in full and South Africa in particular, pointing out that coordination and cooperation between the two countries is important and promotes the service of the interests of the peoples of the African continent.
The foreign minister said that Egypt shares the vision of the South African foreign minister in what she put forward the need to work on the exploitation of human and natural resources, wise management of resources and solidarity to achieve the aspirations of african peoples, face the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities available to the continent for development and political coordination to contain Africa and solve its problems.
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that Egypt and South Africa will work during the coming period in a spirit of cooperation and they can help the rest of the brothers and work for a future of prosperity for the peoples of the African continent.
On her part, Naledi Pandor expressed her pride in hosting Egypt’s climate change conference (COP27).
“Egypt can implement steps that will achieve financial flexibility, and there are a number of large areas that are extremely important and must exploit all opportunities,” she said.
She expressed her aspiration to meet with Minister Shoukry in South Africa and assess what is agreed upon and the extent of its implementation on the ground.
At the end of the ninth session of the Joint Committee for cooperation between Egypt and South Africa, chaired by Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Naledi Pandor, South Africa foreign minister, issued a final statement.
The two ministers stressed their commitment to developing bilateral relations between the two countries on a broad, deep, strong and solid basis, as two African sister states,
They expressed their commitment to work together with the aim of promoting peace, security, stability and sustainable development on the African continent, as well as providing African solutions to African problems guided by the shared values between the two countries.
