Achievements in bulk or disappointment .. Egypt's presidency of the African Union raises controversy

Doaa Abdel Latif - Cairo

Cairo hosting an African summit looking to establish an African force to combat terrorism. This was the last proposal submitted by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in his capacity as President of the African Union Organization during his speech delivered last Monday to the 33rd African Summit in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Egypt's period in the rotating presidency of the African Union, which started in February last year and ended a few days ago, ended when the organization selects a country from its members every year to carry the banner of the continent.

Cairo assumed the chairmanship of the Organization of African Unity three times in its history from its inception in 1963 to 2002, before turning to the new system that bore the name "African Union" so that Egypt's leadership of the brown continent under the banner of the Union in 2019 is the first time.

The choice of Egypt for the presidency of the African Union a year ago was accompanied by a great celebration in the media and political circles in support of the existing authority, as it was treated as a major achievement.

This can be understood as the celebration of the return to seven years back when the African Union suspended Egypt’s membership after the overthrow of civilian President Mohamed Morsi in a coup led by Sisi when he was defense minister in July 2013, as the principles of the continental organization reject the military coups.

Terrorism is a commodity
It seems that raising the slogan of fighting terrorism is the most prominent commodity owned by the Egyptian leadership, as it has marketed it for more than seven years among Egyptians to intimidate them from the revolution, and in front of Western alliances to ensure Sisi’s support and continuity. Then it was the turn of the African Union to offer him the same commodity.

Al-Sisi spoke of "the security of the continent" as a main goal in most of the forums in which he participated as President of the African Union, which culminated in the call for the creation of an African force to combat terrorism.

The ambiguities surrounding the call for the establishment of this force and its work mechanisms are ambiguous, which led to speculation and suggestions regarding the possibility of military intervention in Libya under the cover of the continental organization if necessary.

Al-Sisi started his career with the African Union by launching the "silencing the guns" initiative during the African Summit in Addis Ababa in February 2019, which included providing mechanisms to end conflicts and wars on the continent by 2020.

In June 2018, the Egyptian military spokesman announced the completion of the establishment of the regional center for combating terrorism for the Sahel-Sahara Caucus, and despite the lapse of nearly two years of its establishment, the center does not show activities on the ground and its organizational structure has not been announced.

A year walk
A report of the State Information Service (government) monitored Egypt's activities during the year it presided over the African Union, considering it rich in fruitful activities.

According to the report, Sisi made several tours in African countries, including Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal, which witnessed discussions at the political, economic and security levels and exchanged views on regional and international issues.

During the first African coordination summit, which was held in Niger and chaired by the Egyptian President, on July 8, 2019, he announced the entry into force of the Continental African Free Trade Agreement, after completing the number of necessary ratifications.

Despite the economic nature of the goals of that summit, according to the State Information Service, it gave high priority to the security file and the terrorist threat.

Cairo also hosted two summits to discuss the political crisis in both Sudan and Libya, namely, the consultative summit of Sudan's regional partners, and the troika summit to discuss developments in the Libyan arena, in April 2019.

In December 2019, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, signed an agreement to host the African Center for Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development, which Cairo proposed to establish, in February 2019.

The Reconstruction Center aims to prepare programs for countries emerging from conflict that protect their right to ownership of the path of reconstruction and development and preserve them from the risks of relapse.

According to the report, Egypt organized the first session of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, based on Sisi’s announcement during his assumption of the presidency of the African Union that an annual international forum would be held to discuss ways of peace and sustainable development in the continent.

In the energy field, Egypt, in cooperation with the African Union and China, launched an initiative to deliver electricity to more than 600 million Africans.

In the field of transportation, the Cairo-Cape Town land road project and plans for a shipping link between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean were announced, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation launched EgyptAir Airlines to Douala, Cameroon, Kigali, Rwanda, and Abidjan, Ivorian.

Disappointing hopes
Despite the information carried by the report of the State Information Service to shed light on the Egyptian moves to protect security and economic development, it appears that Cairo has not approached important files that have a direct impact on the Egyptian interior if it is not at the heart of the country's future.

This highlights the power-sharing agreement in Sudan between the ruling military council and the opposition Forces for Freedom and Change Change, signed in July 2019.

It is noteworthy that the agreement was concluded under Ethiopian sponsorship, with the diminution of the Egyptian role in front of what is happening in a border country with a geographical neighborhood, a long historical depth, and common strategic interests.

As for the most dangerous file that Egypt did not take advantage of its presidency of the African Union to move it in its interest is the Al-Nahda Dam file, as Ethiopia is close to finishing the construction of the dam in light of Cairo’s busy walking inside the dark negotiation tunnel.

The neglect of the file, which is a matter of life and death for the Egyptians, disappointed the observers who commented on Sisi's move during his presidency of the Union.

Before Egypt assumed the presidency of the African Union, the expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Saeed Al-Lawandi, considered the presence of Cairo at the head of the continental organization the beginning of a breakthrough for the Renaissance Dam crisis.

The same hope is the possession of the former advisor to the President of the Republic, Mustafa Al-Faqi, who stressed that Egypt's presidency of the African Union will have a positive impact on the issue of the Renaissance Dam, pointing to the need for Egypt to adopt a unified project during the presidency of the African Union, and work to implement it.

However, the Secretary of the African Affairs Committee in Parliament Jamal Mahfouz evaluated Egypt's presidency of the Union in a manner that is not different from seeing the report of the Information Authority.

Mahfouz considered that Egypt is the first country to provide solutions and achievements on the ground, in contrast to what happens most of the time that it is merely an honorary achievement, praising what Egypt provided at the level of all files, and considered the call to establish a counter-terrorism force as evidence of Sisi’s continued interest in the continent.

From a different angle, the former Undersecretary of the Foreign Relations Committee in the House of Representatives, Dr. Gamal Heshmat, believed that the political and economic deterioration experienced by Egypt under the rule of the current political leadership can not be believed with any achievement that Cairo can do to the African continent.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, he asked how Sisi can make an achievement for Africa while depriving the Egyptian people of their rights and wealth.

Heshmat considered that what he described as propaganda media about Sisi's march within a year of the presidency of the African Union could not hide the fact that he did not achieve an achievement for his people or the African people.

The former parliamentarian pointed out that Sisi saw in Africa only a force that could at some point stand against those he classifies as terrorists.