Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr's recent tour of Nile Basin countries reflects Egypt's interest in continuing political dialogue with these countries, said spokesperson for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Amr Roshdy.
It also shows a desire to bolster relations as part of Egypt's initiative to establish development projects in these countries, he added.
Amr will invite his counterparts from Congo, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya to visit Egypt as soon as possible to hold talks and resolve the Nile water issue, Roshdy said.
He said he expects a meeting of Nile Basin countries, scheduled to be held on 27 January in the Kenyan capital, to be postponed because it will coincide with the African Summit in Addis Ababa.
He also said the foreign minister will visit Ethiopia to take part in a preparatory meeting for the summit and to hold talks with his Ethiopian counterpart on how to bolster bilateral relations.
Egypt has 35 diplomatic missions in Africa and it does “not fear the Israeli presence in Africa in general and in the Nile Basin states in particular,” Roshdy said in response to a question about Israel's diplomatic relations with other African nations.
“We cannot prevent any state from establishing relations with any party, but we keep our eyes on strengthening our relations with all countries, especially a country such as South Sudan, which was visited eight times by Egyptian foreign ministers over the past two years alone,” said Roshdy.
Roshdy said relations between Egypt and other African countries are based on their common interests and history.
