Egypt's Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, Kamel Al-Wazir, met with Alhaji Fanday Turay, Sierra Leone's Minister of Transport and Aviation, to explore avenues for deepening bilateral cooperation in various transport and infrastructure sectors. The meeting, held in Cairo, was attended by Sierra Leone's Ambassador to Egypt, Sadiq Silla, along with senior officials from both countries' transport ministries. At the outset, Al-Wazir highlighted the longstanding and friendly ties between Egypt and Sierra Leone, reaffirming Egypt's commitment to strengthening cooperation across all modes of transport. He emphasised the importance Egypt places on African partnerships, noting that supporting development across the continent remains a top priority for President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. For his part, Minister Turay praised Egypt's extensive achievements in infrastructure and transport, describing the country's large-scale development projects as a model aligned with its growing regional and international influence. He expressed Sierra Leone's strong interest in leveraging Egypt's experience to advance its own transport and infrastructure agenda. Al-Wazir reaffirmed that Egyptian companies — many of which have successfully delivered major projects both domestically and across the Arab and African regions — are fully prepared to implement infrastructure initiatives in Sierra Leone to the highest international standards. He outlined several potential areas of cooperation, including the development and modernisation of seaports to enhance Sierra Leone's import-export capacity, and the manufacturing of buses in Egypt for use in Sierra Leone's urban and intercity transport networks. He also proposed assigning an Egyptian firm to manage Sierra Leone's land transport system and collaborating in the fields of railways, river transport, and the construction of dry ports. Both sides agreed to establish a joint working group comprising technical experts from each country to coordinate future efforts and facilitate tangible progress across the maritime, land, river, rail, and dry port sectors. The meeting marks a step forward in Egypt's broader strategy to enhance economic integration and infrastructure connectivity with African partners.
