Is Turkey challenging Egyptian influence in Guinea-Bissau?
Amid regional warnings of Turkey's growing role in West Africa, including Guinea-Bissau, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received a call from Umaro Sissoco Embalo, president of Guinea-Bissau, to discuss ways to develop cooperation in the economic and security fields.
Despite the fact that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's one-year term as head of the African Union ended in 2020, Cairo's cooperation with African countries is growing as a fundemental pillar of Egypt's foreign policy. On March 4, Sisi received Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo in Ittihadia Helioplis Palace, where they discussed economic, military and security cooperation.
On Feb. 20, Sisi received a call from Embalo, who stressed his country's keenness to strengthen bilateral relations in various fields. According to an Egyptian presidency's statement, the two presidents agreed to work on improving trade exchange and developing the capabilities of Guinea-Bissau cadres to lay the foundations of state institutions and face the security challenges in the region.
A few days before that phone call, on Feb. 17, Egypt's ambassador to Conakry Tamer al-Meligy met with Embalo to express Egypt's keenness to transfer its expertise to African countries, including Guinea-Bissau, with the ultimate aim to achieve high growth rates across the continent, improve living conditions and promote prosperity.
Prior to this meeting, Embaló visited Istanbul Jan. 30, where he held a closed-door meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish and international newspapers did not reveal any details about the agenda of the meeting. Yet several Turkish newspapers considered it a sign of rapprochement between Turkey and West African countries, led by Guinea-Bissau.
