France and Egypt signed strategic partnership agreements yesterday, in areas covering health, transport and energy, which French President Emmanuel Macron said would help shore up Egypt’s stability amid volatility in the region.
“Egypt is a strategic partner for our country,” said Macron, speaking alongside Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi at a news conference in Cairo.
“I would thus like to reaffirm France’s commitment to ensuring the stability of Egypt given the context of a worsening climate in the region and as the Egyptian economy faces challenges,” added Macron.
Macron said he continued to back talks between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission.
The IMF approved last month the disbursement of $1.2 billion to Egypt, which has been grappling with high inflation and shortages of foreign currency.
Macron added France’s overseas aid development body would sign 260 million euros ($284.5m) worth of loans and grants for Egypt in areas such as transport, health, water and energy.
Macron and Sisi also both reaffirmed their calls for a ceasefire to the fighting in Gaza and for the release of Israeli hostages.
At the centre of Macron’s three-day visit was a trilateral summit together with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
The talks focused on the situation in Gaza as Israel escalates its offensive in the Palestinian enclave after the collapse of the short-lived ceasefire with Hamas.
Macron also visited the Egyptian port of el-Arish, 50 kilometres west of the Gaza Strip, and met humanitarian aid workers based there.
Sisi took Macron on a tour of Cairo’s historic Khan el-Khalili souk. Shop owners and locals cheered as the two leaders walked through the market, interacting with vendors and posing for photographs.
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