CAIRO — Egypt is engaging in steady political activity and taking steps to enhance communications with Africa in order to regain its pioneering role on the continent. In line with this vision, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced May 12 his participation in the African Union (AU) Summit on June 14-15 in the South African capital, Johannesburg. However, on June 12, Sisi suddenly withdrew his participation in the summit that was themed “Year of Women’s Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063."
Egypt had resumed its activity in the AU a year after its membership was frozen on July 5, 2013, in the wake of the June 30 Revolution and the overthrow of former President Mohammed Morsi. On June 17, 2014, a senior AU official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that on the sidelines of a meeting of permanent representatives of the AU then, AU and UN Security Council members decided to end the freeze on Egypt's membership after the election of a new Egyptian president.
