Egypt and African Union
Born out of the womb of the Organization of African Unity, the African Union was proposed in September 1999 at a summit conference in the Libyan coast city of Surt. Egypt had an active role to play in the Lomé Summit, known as AU's constitutive assembly. The Egyptian delegation submitted two amendments, which were both endorsed. The first was to Article 4 restricting Union intervention as follows:
h) The right of the Union to intervene in a Member State pursuant to a decision of the Assembly in respect of grave circumstances, namely: war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
The second was to Article (25) introducing Arabic to AU's working languages as follows:
The working languages of the Union and all its institutions shall be, if possible, African languages, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese.
Earlier on, in the 1960s through the 1970s, Egypt was active helping African countries gain their independence. This role sustained even in the 1980s and 1990s, during its presidency of the 25th session of the OAU, with its high-profile participation in the quest to eliminate racial discrimination in Namibia and South Africa. Towards this end, Egypt dispatched a peace-keeping force to take part in supervising elections in Namibia and participated in drafting the Harare Declaration of August 1989, which called for an end to apartheid in South Africa and appealed to peace-lovers throughout the globe to push for the release of political prisoners, particularly Nelson Mandela. 50 Egyptian experts were also on hand observing elections in South Africa.
Africa's debt
With the 1980 figure for Africa's debt calculated at 5 times that of the 1970s, Egypt has exerted its utmost to solve the problem. So far, it has submitted a number of proposals all designed to ease off the burden of the continent's debt. These include:
The writing off by rich countries of some of Africa's debts, especially military debts.
The long-term re-scheduling of debts.
Reducing interest rates
IMF compensation of the balances of payment of crisis-hit African countries, and World Bank contribution to development projects.
The convening of an international conference of rich and donor countries as well as regional and international funding agencies with the ultimate purpose of alleviating the burden of Africa's debts.
Revitalizing the process of export-geared production.
Drought and desertification
Egypt has, in accordance with the resolutions of the OAU, expressed its willingness to host African missions seeking to train in the fields of agriculture and industry. Egyptian experts have also been dispatched to African countries to improve agricultural productivity and achieve food sufficiency. In 1997, Egypt, moreover, contributed the sum of US$100 thousand to fighting drought and famines in Africa.
Key Egyptian initiatives
June 1993: The creation of an Egypt-proposed African dispute-resolving mechanism.
January 2005: Egypt proposes the establishment of the Endemic & Communicable Diseases and AIDS Center
January 2005: Egypt proposes the creation of the Council for African Ministers of Power & Electricity.
January 2005: Egypt says it is willing to host the African Union Satellite Channel.
source
http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Politics/Foreign/EAfrica/EgyptAU/040310020000000001.htm