Sisi Rejects "External Interference" in Africa, Warns on Nile Water
Addressing the opening of the African Union's eighth midyear coordination meeting with regional economic communities in the northwestern Egyptian city of El Alamein, Sisi said relations among African states must be built on mutual respect and good neighborliness, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.
He called on African countries to abandon unilateral policies and narrow interests, saying respect for sovereignty, national unity and territorial integrity is vital to the continent's stability.
“Egypt reaffirms its firm rejection of any external interference in the internal affairs of African states,” he said.
Sisi said cross-border issues, including natural resources and shared rivers, should become opportunities for cooperation and dialogue rather than competition and confrontation.
“The sustainable management of shared resources, particularly water, represents a real test of African countries’ ability to integrate,” he said.
While affirming every nation's right to development, Sisi stressed that the right must be exercised responsibly and without harming other states.
“Egypt, given its location and the needs of its people, recognizes the importance of the water issue,” he said, adding that cooperation on shared rivers must rest on international law, consultation, coordination, good neighborliness and the principle of avoiding harm.
Nile dispute
The Nile Basin spans 11 countries: Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.
Egypt and Sudan oppose the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement, also called the Entebbe Agreement, and insist that earlier accords governing Nile waters be respected. Both reject unilateral steps that could affect their water shares.
Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile has been a major point of contention with Egypt and Sudan for over a decade. Cairo and Khartoum fear the dam could reduce their water supplies and have demanded a legally binding agreement on its filling and operation. Ethiopia says the project is meant to support development and is not intended to harm the two downstream countries.
Regional tensions
Sisi's remarks come as diplomatic tensions rise among Ethiopia, Eritrea and Egypt.
Addis Ababa closed its embassy in Asmara and expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats, and Eritrea cut diplomatic ties with Addis Ababa. Ethiopia also expelled an Egyptian diplomat, and Cairo expelled an Ethiopian diplomat in response.
Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry gave no reason for the move involving Egypt, though Addis Ababa had suggested about a week earlier that Cairo might be intervening in the conflict between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front.
In late September, Ethiopian army chief Birhanu Jula accused foreign powers of backing armed groups to destabilize his country, hinting at involvement by Sudan, Egypt and Eritrea. Egypt's Foreign Ministry later denied interfering in any country's internal affairs.
Trade push
On the economy, Sisi urged full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, which took effect in 2019 during Egypt's chairmanship of the African Union. He said the pact could help create a continental market, expand intra-African trade, support industrialization and technology transfer, and generate jobs.
“Africa should not remain merely a supplier of raw materials that it later imports as finished products,” he said, calling for integrated value chains across the continent and stronger production and manufacturing capacity.
Sisi urged African states to turn economic integration into a practical engine of growth.
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