PREVIEW
Cairo to host a regional security conference with the EU in March after last year’s successful investment conference
Egypt expects to receive the remaining €4 billion of a €5bn macro financial assistance package agreed with the EU in 2024 in three tranches before the end of this year, Cairo’s foreign minister Badr Abdelatty told reporters on 8 January.
The first payment of €1bn is set to be made in the coming days by Brussels, he added. Abdelatty was speaking following talks with the EU’s High Representative on Foreign, Kaja Kallas, who described Egypt as an ‘indispensable partner’.
In March 2024, the EU put together a €7.4bn aid package for President Abdel Fattah el Sisi's government, of which around €5bn is in the form of direct budget support, concessional finance, and grants (AC Vol 65 No 7, Fearing a regional meltdown, Brussels pays Egypt $7.4 billion). That made it comfortably the most lucrative of the EU’s ‘cash for migrant control’ deals with countries in North Africa and the Maghreb.
Three months later in July, Cairo hosted an EU-Egypt investment conference that resulted in more than €40bn in commitments from companies, primarily in the energy sector (AC Vol 65 No 14, Ignoring abuses, Brussels courts El Sisi with energy funds).
The Sisi government has emerged as an important regional ally of the EU on migration and energy, with the bloc keen to invest in its green hydrogen sector. Several Gulf states, as well as Israel and Syria, have agreed multi-billion dollar deals to obtain oil and gas from Egypt (AC Vol 67 No 1, Would-be Pharoah builds big at the pyramids).
Sisi has also helped mediate a ceasefire in Gaza and also makes common cause with the EU in its relations with Somalia and on the Horn of Africa.
But the commission’s deal with Egypt has been heavily criticised by MEPs, predominantly from left-wing, green and liberal groups, who point to the Sisi government’s repression of opposition parties and critical media, as well as reports of human rights abuses of refugees and migrants, including arbitrary returns and detention. More than 1.5 million refugees in Egypt have fled the two-year civil war in Sudan. Officials will meet again in Cairo in March for a summit on EU-Egypt Security and Defence.
Copyright © Africa Confidential 2026
https://www.africa-confidential.com
Prepared for Free Article on 13/01/2026 at 00:52. Authorized users may download, save, and print articles for their own use, but may not further disseminate these articles in their electronic form without express written permission from Africa Confidential / Asempa Limited. Contact subscriptions@africa-confidential.com.