Egypt excluded from the US-Africa summit

The military-backed regime in Cairo has not been invited to a summit of African leaders set to take place in Washington this August because Egypt’s membership in the African Union (AU) has been suspended.

In July the AU suspended Egypt days after the coup that ousted democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi, on the grounds that his ouster was unconstitutional under the union’s doctrine.

It was the first time one of the five major contributors to the budget – Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria or South Africa – have been reprimanded on the issue of military coups. Egypt joins Madagascar, the Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau and Mali (now reinstated), who have also been suspended.

Back in July, AU Commission Chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said: “Nobody will sit behind the (Egyptian) flag – neither the previous government nor the present interim government – until there is an election.”

US President Barack Obama has invited 47 leaders to the US-Africa summit to focus on strengthening US trade, development and security ties in the region and highlight US commitment to democratic development and people in the continent.

Along with Egypt, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau are also not on the guest list – Washington has said it is not happy about the state of democracy in the two countries. Sudan has also not been invited given that President Omar al-Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

Earlier this month Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy urged for Egypt’s re-entry into the AU, whilst on Wednesday the Egyptian foreign ministry called the decision not to be invited to the summit “wrong and short sighted.”

For the rest of the world the suspension sent a clear message that the AU will not accept a change of government that takes place unconstitutionally. It also challenges and weakens the authority of the military-backed government in Cairo and validates those protesting against his ouster.

The decision is particularly significant given the fact that many of the Gulf countries endorsed the coup and undermined the Brotherhood by offering billions in aid to Egypt shortly after Morsi’s ouster whilst the EU has stopped short of calling Morsi’s overthrow a coup.

Meanwhile, though the US cut aid to Egypt in October last year, in January 2014 Congress passed a spending bill to reinstate $1.5 billion of aid to Egypt on the condition that Egypt return to democracy, a move widely interpreted as endorsing the new government. Still, their decision not to invite Egypt to the summit suggests that the relationship is complicated; had the US invited Egypt, the African countries would probably have boycotted.

Egypt’s exclusion reduces their influence on internal African affairs, which they need to have in part because of access to the source of the River Nile, their primary water source. Whilst they are under suspension they cannot be elected into a policy making position in the AU; in fact they cannot participate in AU activities until constitutional order is restored and free and fair elections are held.

But on its own, the suspension alone may not be enough to deter the authorities in Cairo. Egypt’s human rights record plummeted even further this week when news emerged that prosecutors have filed charges against Egyptian political scientist Emad Shahin – who has taught at Harvard and the American University of Cairo – with conspiring with foreign organisations to undermine Egyptian national security.

Shahin was critical of Morsi’s government when he was in government, but also a public critic of the suppression of Islamist supporters after the coup.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.