Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail is set to fly to the UK on Wednesday to participate in the LondonSomalia Conference 2017, at which senior government officials from various nations will discuss ways of supporting the African country. According to an Egyptian cabinet statement, Ismail is to represent Egypt at the international conference, which runs from 10 and 11 May, in collaboration with the British and Somali governments and the United Nations. The Egyptian PM's participation comes “as part of Egypt's aspiration to support Somalia, which witnessed presidential elections early 2017, and help it achieve political stability and proceed with economic development,” the cabinet statement read. In February 2017, Somali MPs elected 55-year-old former prime minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed as the country's new president. The conference, which is to be inaugurated by British Prime Minister Theresa May, will involve heads of state from across Africa, as well as representatives from several international organizations. The first LondonSomalia Conference took place in 2012, in response to rising instability in the African county. Security had been undermined by the actions of terrorist group Al-Shabab, while large sections of the population were facing famine. This year's conference aims to "agree on a new international partnership needed to keep Somalia on course for increased peace and prosperity by 2020," according to a UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) statement.
