Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi arrived in Addis Ababa on Saturday for an African Union (AU) summit, where he is set to assume Egypt's chairmanship of the body. His spokesman Bassam Rady said El-Sisi is set to meet with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is attending the summit, and he would request more coordination and cooperation between Egypt and the UN on a number of issues. Rady said that El-Sisi and Guterres would discuss the administrative reform process at both the AU and the UN. He added that El-Sisi will also meet on Saturday with the President of Democratic Republic of Congo Felix Tshisekedi. This meeting comes in light of the strong relationship between the two countries, which has been reflected clearly through Congo's supportive stances for Egypt on matters related to Nile Basin issues. The spokesman said that Cairo will remain a supportive friend to DRC and would work through its chairmanship of the AU to support the Congolese people both politically and developmentally. El-Sisi is also set to attend an official dinner held by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Saturday evening. He will formally take over as chairman of the AU on Sunday. The chairmanship is awarded on an annual basis, and rotates between the leaders of the five regions of the continent: north, south, east, west and centre. Sunday's summit will be held under the theme of “Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced People," which the spokesman earlier said was chosen due to Africa's efforts to stem influx of returnees and refugees and a rise in human trafficking.
