Aswan: Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty led a high-level delegation of African ministers to the Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub Heart Centre in Aswan. This visit aimed to fortify Egypt's partnerships with African nations and reinforce its emerging status as a hub for humanitarian and medical cooperation on the continent.
According to State Information Service Egypt, the delegation included Burkina Faso's Minister of Foreign Affairs Karamoko Traor©, Mali's Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Diop, Somalia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdi Salem Ali, and Rwanda's Minister of Interior Vincent Biruta. They were welcomed by Governor of Aswan Major General Dr. Ismail Kamal, alongside representatives from regional and international organizations as well as Egypt's development partners.
The visit aligns with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's directives to deepen partnerships with African nations and emphasize Egypt's contributions to advancing healthcare across the continent. It highlighted the humanitarian and developmental facets of Egyptian diplomacy, a significant component of Cairo's foreign policy, and the strategic cooperation between the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) and Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub in executing pivotal medical and humanitarian projects across Africa.
Key initiatives discussed included the Magdi Yacoub Heart Centre in Rwanda, a regional cardiac care hub slated to open in mid-2026, reflecting Egypt's increasing support for healthcare infrastructure and capacity building throughout Africa. During the tour, Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub provided a briefing on the Centre's advanced medical technologies, treatment methods, and specialized training programs for healthcare professionals from various African and developing countries.
Sir Magdi Yacoub also revealed future expansion plans to increase patient capacity, enhance research collaboration, and broaden the centre's services to more African patients with cardiovascular diseases. Minister Abdelatty praised the centre as a 'beacon of humanitarian diplomacy,' commending Sir Magdi Yacoub and his team for their dedication to serving those in need through science and expertise.
The visiting African ministers admired the centre's high standard of care and its commitment to training medical professionals from across the continent. They acknowledged Egypt's leadership in promoting South-South cooperation, describing the centre as a model of medical excellence and compassion in the developing world.
Established in Aswan, the Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub Heart Centre is one of Egypt's leading centres of excellence in cardiac surgery and research, providing free, high-quality treatment to thousands of patients annually. It also serves as a training hub for young doctors and medical staff from Egypt and other developing countries, fostering innovation and knowledge exchange in cardiovascular medicine.
Launched in 2014 under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the EAPD plays a central role in transforming Egypt's traditional aid approach into one based on mutual partnership and South-South cooperation. Succeeding the former Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with Africa, the EAPD embodies President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's vision of positioning Egypt as a development bridge between Africa and the Arab world, with a focus on shared growth, knowledge exchange, and capacity building.
The agency operates in various fields including healthcare, agriculture, renewable energy, governance, peacekeeping, and women's empowerment, conducting hundreds of training programmes and technical missions annually for African and developing-country partners.