Egypt and Somalia signed a defence agreement last Wednesday to bolster security cooperation.
The agreement was signed after bilateral talks between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Somali counterpart, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who is on a two-day visit to Cairo.
Somalia said it is a “significant defense agreement between Somalia and Egypt, aimed at bolstering security cooperation between the two brotherly nations.”
At a news conference with El-Sisi, Mohamud said the “historic” pact is a testament to a future of common defence against international terrorism that Somalia is battling at home and abroad.
“The agreement serves as a blueprint for the exchange of knowledge and expertise in the pursuit of regional, continental and international peace and security,” the Somali presidential palace said in a statement.
Egypt offered to support a new African Union peacekeeping mission to Somalia that will replace the current mission force.
The value of Egyptian exports to Somalia increased to $54 million in the first 11 months of 2023, compared to $42.3 million during the period in 2022, an increase of 27.7% as the value of Somalia exports to Egypt stabilized at $2.2 million, according to the Egyptian Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).
Meanwhile, in May, Kenya and Somalia signed a cooperation agreement in the field of defence.
According to reports in the Kenyan press, Kenyan Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi and Somalia Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Ahmed Muallim Fiqi met in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
