Egyptian Presidency of the African Union: A Mutual Opportunity?

Regarding the electoral processes, President Kagame suffered a major setback. Last month, he convened an AU meeting to discuss the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He wanted to impose on Kinshasa a recount of the presidential election votes but was unable to obtain it. Worse, President Kagame, who had planned to lead a delegation to Kinshasa, had to renounce his mission because of the official proclamation of the presidential election results. And because of the reluctance, to say the least, of Southern African Development Community (SADC), the southern African region chaired by South Africa, to endorse his approach. SADC simply called for calm in the DRC, considering President Kagame's initiative as null and void.
 
No one within the African Union forgets the enmities between Paul Kagame and his former protégé, Joseph Kabila, as well as his role in the destabilization of Congo. In Kinshasa, including in the ranks of the opposition to President Kabila, it was ironic that President Kagame, re-elected three times in a row with Soviet-style scores and the right to run until 2034, could still manipulate the presidential election in DRC.
 
As for the pan-African peacekeeping force desired by Kagame, it has certainly been launched but requires considerable financial and human resources. The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat, considered close to President Kagame, has launched a $400 million fund to manage conflicts. To date, 60 million have already been collected.
 
Finally, Paul Kagame has failed to strengthen the powers of the AU Commission, although he has succeeded in streamlining its functioning by reducing the number of commissions from 8 to 6.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mustapha Madbouli stressed the need for Egypt to use its AU presidency to bring African countries closer together. What is the current state of this relationship?

In a context of political tensions in the region and internationally, Cairo has every interest in fostering its neighbourhood relationships with other African countries. Indeed, at its borders, major upheavals are taking place. In the Horn of Africa, Egypt is particularly interested in an unprecedented rapprochement between Eritrea and Ethiopia, as it is closely monitoring the use of the Nile waters following the construction of the huge Ethiopian dam on the river. Sudan is also a source of concern, after the protests against the Bashir regime. Indeed, Cairo has a tortuous relationship with Khartoum due to a conflict on an island in the so-called Halayeb border triangle, which the two countries are fighting over.
 
And let's not forget that Egypt will host this summer the ACN 2019, the African Cup of Nations, which is a very important moment of football and celebration for Africa.

What can we expect from the Egyptian presidency, which will begin on February 10, particularly with regard to the AU reforms initiated by Paul Kagame during the Rwandan presidency?

Finally, with regard to AU reforms, Egypt will encourage member states that have not already done so to ratify the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), the Pan-African economic area. In this respect, President Sisi will continue the work of his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether Egypt will endorse President Kagame's desire to strengthen the powers of the African Union Commission. Indeed, Egypt, in the aftermath of Marshal Sissi's coup d'état in 2013, was suspended from the African Union. A decision that, according to Cairo, was the work of the AU Commission. In this respect, Cairo will certainly be followed by a large number of heads of state who refuse to deposit their sovereignty powers in the hands of the AU Commission.

Copyright : 2019 African Union Commision