EthiopiaRelations between Egypt and EthiopiaBrief History:
Geography has played a crucial role in the history of relations between Egypt and Ethiopia.
Religion could further be cited as another factor bringing the peoples of the two countries closer:
the Ethiopian Church was part of the Coptic Orthodox Church until 1959, when its Patriarch was appointed by the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa, Cyril VI Ethiopian Muslims are also closely attached to al-Azhar al-Sharif, where they have their own column to study under, named al-Jabarta Column, under which numerous scholars studied such as Shaykh Abdurahman al-Jabarti, author of al-Jabarti's History of Egypt.
Other historical facts proves the deep roots of the relations between the two countries, including that Egypt represented by the National Bank of Egypt helped to inaugurate the first Ethiopian banking and financial system through the establishment of the first bank ever in Ethiopia, "The Bank of Abyssinia" in 1905.
Operating in the capacity of a branch of the National Bank of Egypt, it was in charge of minting money, trading in gold and silver, stockpiling staple commodities and investments.
In a sense, it operated as both a central and a commercial bank until 1931 when it was handed over to the Ethiopian government.Egypt and Ethiopia have enjoyed strong relations throughout their history.
Egypt believes in the importance of supporting economic and trade relations with Ethiopia due to its potential benefits for both sides, which would create a network of mutual interests boosting political relations and, therefore, reflect positively on the level of confidence and cooperation between the two sides in all areasMutual Visits:
• Ethiopian public diplomacy delegation, led by H.E. Abadulla Gemeda the Speaker of the House of Peoples' Representative of the Ethiopian Parliament with the participation of 65 Ethiopian public figures in various fields, visited Egypt on December 2014.
During the visit, the delegation met with H.E. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, the Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb and His Holiness Pope Tawadros II.
• His Holiness Abune Mathias, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, visited Egypt on January 2015, where he met with the President, Prime Minister, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb and His Holiness Pope Tawadros II.
During the visit, His Holiness visited Alexandria and several churches and monasteries in Cairo.
• H.E. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi visited Addis Ababa on March 2015, which is the first Egyptian presidential bilateral visit in 30 years, during which he met with Ethiopian President, Prime Minister, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and Chairman of the Ethiopian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Ethiopian public diplomacy delegation.
• The Ethiopian Prime Minister visited Egypt on August 2015 to attend the.
inauguration ceremony of the New Suez Canal.
• H.E. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received two representatives of the Ethiopian public diplomacy delegation on December 2015.
• Within the framework of Egypt's foreign policy efforts to preserve the water security of the Nile River downstream countries, the two downstream countries Egypt and Sudan coordinated to sign the Declaration of Principles among Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in Khartoum in March 2015, which is a significant step to boost and build confidence among the two downstream countries and Ethiopia to ensure respect for the interests of all parties, so that Egypt does not relinquish its historic rights in the Nile River.
Egypt also coordinates with Sudan to reach a comprehensive vision and actual solutions to deal with the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and to ensure the rights of the downstream countries within the framework of the historical agreements signed between the upstream and downstream countries.
Consultant offices are following up the final studies on the impact of the dam on the downstream countries.
• Minister Sameh Shoukry visited Ethiopia in December 2017, where he met the Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs to follow up on bilateral cooperation between the two countries and the results of the Renaissance Dam Tripartite National Committee’s latest round of meetings.
Economic Relations:
• The trade volume between Egypt and Ethiopia reached 140 million USD in 2014 (Exports from Egypt: 88 million UDS, Imports to Egypt: 52 million USD).
• Egypt's exports to Ethiopia include paraffin wax, mixtures of odoriferous substances, and copper weld wire.
Egypt's imports from Ethiopia include camels and calves.
• The Egyptian investments in Ethiopia are estimated around 2 billion USD, and several visits for more than 150 Egyptian businessmen from various fields to Ethiopia were organized in the past years.
• The National Bank of Egypt opened a branch in Addis Ababa to facilitate the financial procedures for the Egyptian investors, in addition the Arab Contractors opened an office in Addis Ababa.
Technical cooperation and assistance:
• Egypt presents through the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) various training courses to Ethiopia in different fields including trade, transport diplomacy and agriculture.
In addition to the Ethiopian participation in the training courses organized by the different Egyptian Ministers the Ministry of Electricity and the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources.
• EAPD regularly sends Egyptian medical convoys to Ethiopia, in addition to opening a number of Egyptian medical units, including gastrointestinal endoscopies and liver disease units in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar.
An Egyptian kidney dialysis center was opened in the Hospital of St. Paul in Addis Ababa on August 2013.
