Egypt is closely related with Africa civilizationally, historically and geographically. Her location in the northeast of Africa made her Africa's gate to Asia and Europe. Moreover, the Egyptian history and civilization always points to Africa.

 

Since dawn of history, the Pharaonic Egypt was always longing to solve the mystery of the Nile and get acquainted with its origin by every possible and available mean and boost its ties with Africa.

 

During the epoch of Senusret III, Sisostris Canal was dig to link between the Nile and the Red Sea and also between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea through the Nile. Thanks to this navigational route, trade had flourished between Egypt and Somalia. Furthermore, Queen Hatshepsut sent trade missions carrying many gifts and Egyptian products to the Somali king and this mission returned with wood, incense, precious stones, ivory and leather. She recorded the events of this mission on the temple walls. During the Islamic epoch, the Egyptian-African relationships took another dimension as many Africans like Ibn Khaldun from Tunisia, al-Gabarti from Ethiopia and al-Takroury from West Africa, were taught in al-Azhar.

 

During Mohamed Ali's epoch, many Egyptian expeditions were sent to Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Uganda. Mohamed Ali had also a very important role in establishing the Khartoum city (1820-1825), which became the capital of Sudan in 1830.

 

Upon the July 23, 1952 Revolution, Egypt paid major attention to Africa. It also took President Gamal Abdul Nasser's attention and interest to the extent that in his book "The Philosophy of the Revolution", he considered the African Circle one of the main three Circles for the Egyptian foreign policy after the Arab and Islamic ones. He also considered that Africa's liberation is a continuation to Egypt's liberation and that it represents a strategic depth for the Egyptian Revolution. Moreover, Egypt deals with Africa as it represents the main pillar of the Third World and the Non-Alignment countries, in addition to the pivotal importance of the Nile in the Egyptian foreign policy.

 

Out of the previously mentioned facts, Egypt played, during 1952-1977, a pivotal role on the African arena as it became a stronghold for revolutions and African liberation movements, especially through:

 

1-        The African League which was found in Egypt in 1955, in addition to the military and financial support and military training which Egypt had presented to the liberation movements.

 

2-        The leading regional role-Egypt plays – that seeks to build a continental solidarity through an effective participation in establishing the Organization of African Unity (OAU), 1963.

 

3- Laying down the Afro-Asian solidarity foundations through Egypt's effective role in establishing the Bandung bloc in the 1950s.

 

4- Laying down the foundations of the diplomacy of development through offering financial aid and loans according to the available potentials of some African states, besides the Egyptian technical support. 

 

5- The Egyptian African relationship reached its climax when most of the African countries had severed their relations with Israel upon the Israeli aggression in 1967 and their support to Egypt in 1973 War. These relations were crowned in the first Arab-African Summit in Cairo, March 1977.

 

Since President Mubarak assumed office in November 1981, he paid special attention to Egypt's foreign policy towards Africa and adopted an active and effective diplomacy in consolidating relationships with the African countries.

 

He started such a diplomacy by declaring that Angola, under the leadership of the Popular Front government, is one of the leading south African countries fighting racial discrimination. Mubarak's diplomacy was characterized by moderation to realize the development of the African continent and provide security on both bilateral and collective levels. For realizing this strategy, President Mubarak had adopted many methods and tools, salient of which are;

 

1- Diplomacy of summit: it aims at fostering relations among states through holding meetings between presidents of the states.  

 

2- Diplomacy of the Nile circle: Egypt was keen on consolidating relations with the Nile Basin Countries on all economioc and political levels.  She actually started to find the INDOGO group, 1983, then the TICONIL project, 1992, and the Nile Basin Initiative, 1999.

 

3- The diplomacy of development: it is the main objective Egypt had sought to realize, as much as possible on all levels by providing financial and technical assistances. She started this drive by establishing the Technical Fund for the Egyptian Cooperation with Africa, 1980, in addition to her efforts to reduce the African debts and promote intertrade, establishing and participating in the economic blocs and gatherings.

 

Egypt's history that is characterized by moderation and abstainment from engaging in any regional conflicts, rather, on the contrary, according to all the African disputing parties, had played an effective role in settlement of any conflict that may rise in Africa with object to realize the political stability of the continent, had helped her establish good relationships with all other countries.    

 

Egypt has played an active and vital role in founding the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and in preserving the charter of the Organization since its inception in May 1963. The OAU embodies the spirit of African solidarity, unity and will. Cairo hosted the first summit of the OAU from July 17 - 21,1964, attended by leaders of 34 African countries and issued the Protocol of Mediation, Reconciliation and Arbitration committee. Egypt has spared no effort over the 37 years of the organization to support it in all areas, starting from the liberation movements and fighting against apartheid policy till striving to achieve economic, political and social development.

 

Since assuming office of the Arab Republic of Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak has been keen on participating in all conferences of the African summits held in the framework of the OAU and the African Union.

 

 Yet, conferences of the OAU which President Mubarak didn't attend were exceptional. On the grounds that Egypt is one of the founding countries of the OAU in May 1963, it considers the OAU a bulwark that protects the African Unity and representative of the African personality on the international scene.

 

Egypt also under President Hosni Mubarak had an influential role in Africa as when the African countries members of the OAU elected President Mubarak as the DebutyChairman of the OAU in July 1986, then the head of the OAU from July 1989 to July 1990 in its 25^th session. Out of theirConfidence in President Mubarak's leadership; leaders of Africa reelected him once again for the chairmanship of the OAU in its 29^th session from July 1993 to July 1994.

 

Observers of the activity of the OAU find that there are many achievements took place under the chairmanship of President Hosni Mubarak salient of which are:-

 

1- Independence of Namibia in 1990.

 

2-Releasing of the African leader Nelson Mandella in 1990.

 

3- Role of President Mubarak in settling the dispute between Mauritania and Senegal, which flared up in September 1989 and had been contained through an Egyptian mediation, then signing a peace agreement in April 24,1992.

 

4- In the interests of security in Africa, President Mubarak commissioned the Foreign Ministry to launch a training programme for cadres of African countries on peacekeeping missions.

At the beginning, when President Mubarak assumed office, the OAU was experiencing many problems; thus he had the vision to confront these problems which clarified in front of his African summits as follows:

 

(...We must be aware and manage how to face the status quo of the African situation and the current problems and challenges of the African contineut. Together, we have to examine ways of confronting these problems and find the most appropriate prompt solutions.

 

Perhaps the greatest danger we face today more than ever before is the risk of internal division which threatens the unity and entity of the OAU as well as its presence as an organization that embodies the aspirations of the peoples of the continent and their pursuing to achieve objectives . The only way to face this danger is through upholding the unity and independence of the continent and isolating it from conflicts of major power and policy of domination generated by some or interference in its internal affairs as well as sincerely abiding by provisions of the charter of its organizations, returning to legislation and respecting decisions issued by the summits heads of states and government during its conferences summit…).

 

President Mubarak said: "…The Organization is the pot we chose together to deepen the concept of unity, strengthen communication between our struggling peoples, remove our casual differences and double its capability of facing challenges whether through combating apartheid in the South of our glorious continent and eliminating vestiges of the colonial era or through changing the image of life all over the continent for the interest of toilling masses and new generations…).

 

President Mubarak asserted that the OAU (…is the bulwark that protects peoples of the continent and embraces its solidarity as well as expressing its distinctive personality on the international scene …).

 

President Mubarak has felt the great responsibility of being elected as chairman of the OAU in July 1989, which led him to say on this occasion: "…This responsibility you charged me with in this critical phase of the African struggle and collective appreciation for the role of Egypt in Africa and its dedication in serving the African issues since I had the privilege to host the first African summit in 1964…".

 

Reflecting a future vision of the role to be played by the OAU, President Mubarak said: "…If the pivot of our struggle yesterday was to resist external forces that came to the continent. Then the pivot of our struggle today must focus on searching for solutions of old economic and social problems that still hinder Africa's heading towards a better future that suits its status and abundant natural resources which must be utilized now to upgrade the standard of living of its peoples…).

 

In an explicit invitation from President Mubarak to members of the OAU to contribute to the ongoing transformations around us so as to build a new world where Africa becomes an active element to maintain its interests, he said:-

 

First: Confirming our collective commitment to support our organization, rationalizing and strengthening its role to be the umbrella for the African action in all areas.

 

Second: Adhering to the principles established by the Charter of the OAU and its resolutions experience proved that its absence threaten the continent stability and security.

 

Third: Relying on peaceful means to settle disputes, rejecting aggression policy and using force to solve differences, which requires activating mechanism of resolving and settling disputes.

 

Fourth: Consider reviving the Mediation, Conciliation and Arbitration Committee stipulated by the Charter of the OAU.

 

Fifth: Strengthening our joint action in face of cross-border crimes that posing a threat to all communities, especially the organized crime and what related to it.

 

Sixth: Deepening the African march in the field of practicing democracy in accordance with the conditions and stages of development of our societies.

 

Seventh: Activating the joint action in the area of economic cooperation and integration, removing obstacles that hinder trade between the African countries and connecting various parts of the continent with communication and transportation networks.

 

Eight: Paying attention to science and education systems development, absorbing modern technology and upgrading human capabilities.

 

Ninth: Consolidating dialogue and cooperation with friendly nations, and our partners in development and existing groupings at the international arena on the basis of joint interest and mutual respect.

 

Tenth: Paying due interest in unity of the African position for preserving the continent's interests in the framework of multilateral international negotiations.

 

However, Egypt welcomed trends of the members of the OAU towards the establishment of a political continental regional union aimed at achieving economic and political unity without violating the independence of each state. Under the leadership of President Mubarak, Egypt contributed to establishing the African Union (AU) when the Egyptian delegation participated in Lome Summit, 2000 submitted a request to introduce some amendments to the amendment draft document, namely:-

 

1- Amendment to Article 44 (h), which shall limit the right of the AU to intervene in the affairs of the member states in three specific cases: the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

 

2- Amendment to Article 5, which focused on the languages used in the AU and inclusion of the Arabic languages to be one of the languages of the AU.

 

3- Identification of the four original texts of the document edited in Arabic, English, French and Portuguese languages.

 

It should be noted here that the introduction of these amendments has been taken into consideration.

 

President Mubarak stressed Egypt's keenness on its African relations under any form and any indefinite terms as he says: "…Egypt has always been linked with the issues of the African continent throughout very long decades. Egypt also fought for the issues of Africans via a great Raith regardless any interests during the battles of liberation from colonialism and the elimination of racism. Moreover, Egypt has continued and still to exerts strenuous efforts in no less vicious battle for the African development issues as well as strengthening African solidarity and jointaction under the umbrella of the AU… ".

 

Since Egypt signed the Constitutive Act of the African Union in January 2001, it pays due attention to attend all meetings of the African Union Summit, on top of which are Abuja summit on January 30, 2005 as President Hosni Mubarak headed the Egyptian delegation.

 

With a view to ensuring the continuation of the Egyptian spirit of solidarity and cooperation against everything that afflicts the continent such as risks or problems, President Mubarak launched a number of initiatives during the African summits whether he headed or participated in, on top of which are:-

 

1- Egypt launched in the 28^th summit an initiative for the establishment of a mechanism for settling the African disputes and continued its efforts until the declaration of founding the mechanism on June 7, 1993.

 

2- Egypt proposed in the 30^th African summit in Tunis on June 7,1994 establishing the Egyptian center for peacekeeping operations and training African cadres, which was actually established in 1995.

 

3- Egypt suggested in the 32^th African Summit that the African countries members in UN Security Council should automatically obtain membership in the mechanism of settling African disputes in order to support and create an effective chain of communication to intensify cooperation between the mechanism and Security Council so as to resolve problems and disputes in the continent.

 

4- In the 43^th Summit, Egypt also suggested within the framework of developing the mechanism of settling disputes and activating its role, providing financial and technical resources for it.

 

5- At the fourth Summit of the African Union (Abuja, January 30-31, 2005), President Mubarak announced launching three initiatives for cooperation between the countries of the continent, salient of which are:-

 

A- Establishing an African centre for endemic and contagious diseases and AIDS in Cairo.. President Mubarak called the African Health Ministers to a meeting in Cairo and set the organizational structure and articles of association of the center.. He also offered Egypt's readiness to exchange its expertise in the field of pharmaceutical industries and manufacturing serums and vaccines for countries of the continent and eliminate poliomyelitis disease where the world Health Organization (WHO) had announced in December 2004 Egypt's success to eliminate poliomyelitis in a pioneering experiment praised by the international organizations

 

B- President Mubarak announced Egypt's readiness to host the ground station of the AU satellite channel with the object of achieving communication between cultures of the continent through transmitting broadcast via various languages, in addition to Egypt's keenness to provide its satellites (NileSat) for serving the African satellite channel.

 

C- The Abuja Summit agreed on the Egyptian initiative to hold a conference in Cairo for the African cotton-producing countries on the grounds that the agriculture sector is one of the most productive sectors on which peoples of the continent depend.

 

1- During the African Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Reduction in December 2005, Egypt offer an initiative to establish an African Union, aiming at reducing disaster under the umbrella of the AU, considering Cairo to be the headquarter of it.

 

During his participation in the fifth ordinary session of the AU in Syrte, Libya on July 5,2005, President Mubarak made a statement in which he expressed of Egypt's concern over the issues of its continent and efforts exerted for its development . He also pointed out that the path of the continent towards future depends on the joint work and solidarity as well as determing objectives and priorities.

 

Moreover, President Mubarak announced Egypt's support for the decision of the AU which called for the continent, right to have two permanent seats and five non-permanent ones in the Security Council.  

                              

Egypt has played a great role in supporting Africa liberation movements as well as fighting racism since 1952 Revolution as there were only four independent states that time.

 

 1- In 1955, the African league was established in Cairo that was a hub for all liberation movements and a bastion on the way of the struggle for independence. It was also the meeting point for all African leaders with their nations' peoples to spread out their ideas. After the independence of most of Africa's countries, the League has been turned to be the African Assembly which still exists for supporting peace between nations and strengthening ties of cooperation and understanding among nations of Africa.

 

2 - In 1963, Egypt in its capacity as a founder member joined the Africa Liberation Coordination Committee affiliated to the Organization of African Unity; in which Egypt played a major positive role in activating liberation movements through offering necessary military training and supporting it with required weapons.

 

3 – Under the leadership of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt took the presidency of Africa Liberation Committee in 1986 as well as the 25^th session of Organization of African Unity (1989 – 1990); during which Egypt exerted strenuous efforts on the regional and international levels so as to allow Namibia gain its independence. Such efforts were crowned with success in 21/3/1990.

 

4 - During Egypt's chairmanship of the southern African Committee, Egypt took part in issuing Harari Declaration in August 1989. This Declaration called for facing racial regime Pretoria and releasing political detainees mainly Nilson Mandela on February 1990.

 

5- Egypt with the status of an observer participated in supporting the CODESA Dialogue held in Johannesburg for a democratic South  Africa, May 1991 - May 1992) so as to put an end to apartheid in South Africa, the object that was realized in 1994 and fair elections took plac