Somalia’s prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble signed a bilateral agreement with his Egyptian counterpart, prime minister Mustafa Madbouly while on an official state visit to Cairo.
Both sides agreed to a number of issues that are of benefit to both governments, which include Egyptian support for Somalia’s educational system, improving accessibility for Somali visa applicants attempting to travel to Egypt and increase the import-export trade between both nations.
Somalia’s foreign minister, Mohamed Abdirizak who was among the delegates partaking in the state visit alongside the Somali premier Mohamed Hussein Roble stated the following.
“Prime minister Roble and his delegation will remain in Cairo on a three day trip in a bid to further strengthen relations between both governments”.
The Somali delegates in attendance are the minister of education, Abdullahi Abukar, the foreign minister, Mohamed Abdirizak along with several senior advisers.
Somalia and Egypt have had historically close economic and military ties spanning decades, which came to an unfortunate halt following the collapse of the Somali government in 1991 and the subsequent civil war that followed.
Egypt played a significant role in attempting to resolve the three decade long Somali quagmire, which includes hosting a number of peace conferences between rival factions and insurgent groups throughout the years.
Many view the Somali prime minister’s trip to Cairo as more than just two former allied nations rekindling relations but more about Egypt trying to exert there influence in the Horn of Africa, in the wake of heightened hostilities between Ethiopia and Egypt over control of the water flow that runs through the Nile river.
Halgan Media Service Desk
