CAIRO: Egypt's Minister for African Affairs Mona Omar reported that Chad has extended an offer to Egypt to import livestock such as camels and goats, while also requesting Egyptian professors to work in Chad. “Chad is an important country in the middle of Africa,” Omar stated in a statement from her office. “It is also the only country that speaks the Arabic language, and it shares a border with both Sudan and Libya.” The statement comes after Omar visited the capital of Chad, N'djamena, to represent Egypt's support in the inauguration of President Deby. Omar felt that Chad is very interested in fostering relations with Egypt on all fronts. After the January 25 Revolution, Omar believes Egyptian businessmen are making further investments in Africa, and a delegation of Egyptian businessmen is due to visit Chad, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana in the coming months. According to Omar, “Egypt needs to open African markets for Egyptian products in order to reduce unemployment.” She added that both Egyptian Embassies in African countries, as well as the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs are trying to discover new opportunities for Egyptian businessmen in the African nations. Aside from fostering relations with Chad, Omar has reported that she will be holding a meeting with various Egyptian civil society organizations in the hopes of unifying the efforts to aid the Somali people in the latest crisis. “Egypt has sent a humanitarian aid convoy to Somalia a few days ago and another convoy will be sent to a Somali refugee camp in south Kenya,” said Omar. BM
