National

President Paul Kagame yesterday met with Egypt’s new President Mohamed Morsi on the sidelines of the 19th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Morsi commended Rwanda for its exemplary religious tolerance and invited Kagame to visit Egypt, according to a statement from Village Urugwiro. “He thanked Rwanda for its continuous efforts to foster mutually beneficial cooperation among Nile Basin countries”. The world’s longest river, which has its source in southwestern Rwanda, is central to Egypt’s economy.

President Morsi was sworn in, as Egypt’s first civilian president and first head of state since Hosni Mubarak's overthrow during a popular uprising last year, on June 30.

He won a June 16-17 election run-off, against Mubarak’s last prime minister.

Meanwhile, President Kagame also met with Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Special Adviser to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Millennium Development Goals, and Ian Eliasson, United Nations Deputy Secretary General.

Addressing the Assembly earlier, Eliasson committed to being not “only an advocate for Africa but a partner in the kind of action that result in Africa's ability to shape its future”.

Yesterday was the final day of the AU summit held under the theme, “Boosting African Trade”.

On Sunday, the summit elected South Africa’s Home affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as the first female AU Commission president, replacing Gabon’s Jean Ping who failed to win a second term.

The summit ended with members of the African Union discussing a trade roadmap and renewing the commitment to accelerate the implementation of intra-African trade that was made during a meeting of Trade ministers held in Kigali in 2010.