Reaching South

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit's choice of Africa for his first overseas tour -- just four weeks after taking charge of his new post -- is far from a coincidence; nor is it merely a matter of following up on a former minister's schedule. Abul-Gheit's 10-day Africa trip is Egyptian diplomacy's concerted attempt to rebuild weakened ties with Africa at a time when the country's historic relations with its continental brethren are being questioned on both the African and international levels.

Just last month, former Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher withdrew Cairo's bid to host the African Parliament after failing to secure enough votes. South Africa, which also beat Egypt in its bid to host the 2010 football World Cup, was chosen by the AU to host Africa's parliament.

Many said the failure was symbolic of Egypt's breakdown on the African scene. For Egyptian diplomats, it was a wake up call; only a few days after the failed parliamentary bid, Abul-Gheit told his closest aides that, "Africa is a priority."

On Tuesday, Abul-Gheit left Cairo for a three-leg tour of South Africa, Zambia and Kenya. In each of these three countries, Abul-Gheit is planning to hold talks with top officials, in addition to delivering written messages from President Hosni Mubarak.

"Egypt is an African country with a true dedication to its historic and profound African ties," is the message that Abul-Gheit is taking to Johannesburg, Lusaka and Nairobi. It is the same message that he intends to convey to several African foreign ministers whom he will be meeting today during a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference in South Africa.

Over the coming weeks and months, Abul- Gheit is planning several more tours to other African capitals with the same message.

"Africa is our strategic depth. It is a priority by definition," Abul-Gheit said before embarking on his current tour.

Egyptian diplomats say that Cairo is fully aware that in order to reinforce national security objectives, it has to maintain excellent ties with Africa, with a special focus on its unmistakable interests in Nile waters and Red Sea security. They say these same motives have consistently prompted Egypt -- since the heydays of the July Revolution -- to pursue an active role in supporting liberation movements and calls for independence across the continent.

Today, they say, Egypt is keen to build on those historic ties, and to establish reliable grounds for boosting an effective Egyptian presence in Africa as a firm basis for relations.

With this in mind, Egypt says it has been working hard to promote trade exchanges, encourage Egyptian investments in Africa, open up new markets for Egyptian products, and develop necessary mechanisms to serve Egyptian and African economic and trade interests.

Intense Egyptian diplomatic efforts, after all, helped secure Egypt's participation in the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). Egyptian diplomats also said that in addition to its membership in both the African Union and COMESA, Egypt is pursuing cooperative efforts with several other African groupings, including SADAC, Sahil and Sahara. Moreover, they say that Egypt also joined the Organisation of Francophone Countries as a way of widening its contacts with the African continent.

"It is really unfair to say that we have given up on Africa, as some commentators like to suggest, or that simply because we did not get to host the headquarters of the African Parliament means we are loosing our edge in Africa," commented one Egyptian diplomat. "I think that this is an exaggerated estimate. Egypt still has its presence and status in Africa. Many African countries still recall Egypt's support for their independence, and its continued efforts to support the cause of development in several African countries through the Egyptian Fund for Cooperation with Africa, which provides systematic technical assistance."

According to another diplomat, Egypt is stepping up its involvement in key African political issues as well. "Egypt has been taking the lead in addressing the situation in Darfur. We are working on the political dimension with the Sudanese government, the international community, and the African Union. We are sending relief material and we have committed peace monitors."

Many commentators argue that all these efforts don't amount to much. They say that Egypt is pursuing Africa using a "bits-and- pieces approach", which means that one day Egypt is interested in Africa, and the next day not really. This lack of consistency, they say, has taken its toll. Egypt's failure to garner support for its candidate for AU cultural affairs commissioner is an oft-cited example.

"We lack a coherent strategy on Africa," said Cairo University Professor Iglal Raafat. "We have to have a holistic approach towards this continent. This is our continent."

Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Cairo-based African diplomats said their capitals do not feel that Egypt perceives Africa as "its continent". Egypt looks to Africa as a third or even fourth priority, following the US, Europe and the Arab world, they said.

Others accused Egypt of merely seeing Africa as either "Egypt's water tap", or "the supermarket where Egyptian businessmen can sell those commodities that failed to penetrate the European market". And as a few African diplomats suggested, Egypt's renewed interest in Africa is simply prompted by concerns about Israel's and the US's growing presence on the continent, rather than "a genuine interest in Africa".

These African diplomats also argued that Egypt was not overly concerned with the continent's many serious problems. Egypt is not playing an active role in the collective African effort to combat AIDS, they said by way of example. "Actually, we have a feeling that Egyptians want to avoid us because they think we are going to contaminate them with AIDS. And this is a horrible thing," said one African diplomat.

Egypt is also criticised in many African quarters for staying away from key African political issues -- apart from Sudan, which they say Cairo is approaching as an Arab, rather than African, concern.

In fact, nearly every African diplomat in Cairo has voiced concern over the level of Egyptian representation at events hosted by his/her country. "They do not like to go to Africa, and they delegate the ambassadors. They say we have historic relations, but what about the present relations," argued an African ambassador in Cairo. "This is the feeling that Egyptians conveyed to us, and the onus is on them to convince us that they believe otherwise."

For Egyptian commentators and African diplomats alike, then, Abul-Gheit's much- ballyhooed tours will not bear fruit unless Egypt decides to adopt a high-level re- engagement in Africa.

This sentiment is even voiced by the South African ambassador, whose country is increasingly viewed in Egypt -- and especially by Egyptian intelligentsia -- as a serious challenger for influence in Africa. "It is the belief of South Africa that Egypt is a very important African state," said Ambassador Happy H L Mahlangu. Mahlangu, however, also said that South Africa and other African countries "have noticed" an unimpressive Egyptian presence at key African events, which they cannot but perceive as declining Egyptian interest in Africa. "Most African countries have not been exactly happy with the level of Egypt's activism in Africa, and feel that Egypt has not done enough on African issues."

For Mahlangu and other African diplomats "it is very important that Egypt should have a vocal voice in the African Union, especially that Egypt is a member of a head-of-state African Union steering committee."

During his talks with top officials over the next few days, Abul-Gheit will try to convince his African interlocutors that Egypt is determined to take whatever steps are necessary to cement its African ties. The top Egyptian diplomat will also be examining specific developmental and economic projects that could be jointly pursued by Egypt and its African neighbours. First and foremost, however, he is going to have to listen carefully to the requests and demands made by his African hosts regarding what Egypt needs to do to win Africa back.