South African President Cyril Ramaphosa affirmed to Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi during a bilateral summit in Cairo on Tuesday that his country supports the dream of a railway line between Egypt and South Africa's Cape Town. El-Sisi received Ramaphosa at Cairo's Ittihadeya palace for the meeting, and the two leaders held talks on enhancing bilateral relations and other issues of mutual concern, especially African issues. Ramaphosa praised the Egyptian role in supporting his country's people and government, as part of Cairo's pivotal role within the African Union. He also said that his talks with El-Sisi focused on challenges to international peace and security. During a press conference following their meeting in Cairo, the South African president expressed his country's keenness on enhancing “historic” bilateral relations and ongoing cooperation between Egypt and South Africa. El-Sisi's spokesman Bassam Rady said that the meeting witnessed a discussion of the prospects of strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries, and the importance of holding the ninth session of the joint committee between the two countries at the beginning of 2020 was agreed upon. The committee discusses areas of cooperation of mutual interest, especially bilateral trade and investment, as well as cooperation in the fields of infrastructure development in Africa, especially the Cairo-Cape Town Corridor project. The two African leaders also discussed a number of number of issues involving the latest developments in achieving peace in South Sudan, and the Libyan crisis. El-Sisi stressed Egypt's keenness on the unity and stability of Libya, and support for efforts to reach a political resolution, and support for the Libyan army's efforts in eliminating terrorism. The Egyptian president also stressed the necessity of enhancing political consultations between the two countries in various issues of peace, security and economic development in the African continent, in light of the important role played by the two countries, with Egypt the current president of the African Union and South Africa set to take over next year.
