Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated Senghor University’s new campus in Alexandria’s Borg El Arab on Saturday (May 9).

The two leaders attended the opening ceremony alongside delegations and representatives of international organisations including the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). Both presidents delivered speeches during the event.

Senghor university is a French-language international university under the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), created in 1989 and opened in Alexandria in 1990 to train African professionals in development-related fields. It is named after former Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor.

According to Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS), the new Borg El Arab campus is set to become the university’s future permanent headquarters, providing expanded infrastructure and educational facilities for students and researchers from across Africa.

Macron’s visit to Egypt is the first leg of an African tour that also includes Kenya and Ethiopia.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. VARIOUS OF FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON WALKING ALONGSIDE THE EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT ABDEL FATTAH AL-SISI AND POSING FOR A GROUP PHOTOGRAPH WITH MEMBERS OF THE UNIVERSITY FACULTIES AND INVITEES DURING THE INAUGURATION CEREMONY OF SENGHOR UNIVERSITY’S NEW CAMPUS (MUTE)

2. VARIOUS OF MACRON AND SISI ENTERING HALL AND BEING SEATED / INVITEES APPLAUDING / SISI AND MACRON SITTING

3. CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF SENGHOR UNIVERSITY, HANY HELAL, AND EXECUTIVE DEAN OF SENGHOR UNIVERSITY THIERRY VERDEL, SPEAKING ON STAGE DURING CEREMONY

4. SISI AND MACRON LISTENING

5. INVITEES LISTENING

6. VARIOUS OF SISI WALKING TOWARDS STAGE TO DELIVER SPEECH / MACRON AND INVITEES APPLAUDING

7. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT, ABDEL FATTAH AL-SISI, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER MACRON)

"I would like to express to His Excellency President Macron Egypt’s appreciation for France’s keenness to support efforts to prepare African cadres through financial contributions, grant programs, and the transfer of expertise, which reflects the commitment to supporting stability and development in Africa."

8. MACRON LISTENING

9. SISI DELIVERING SPEECH

10. INVITEES LISTENING

11. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT, ABDEL FATTAH AL-SISI, SAYING:

"For more than three decades, Senghor University has successfully established itself as a leading academic institution in preparing young African cadres according to the latest educational systems, thus qualifying these cadres to deal with the developmental challenges facing the continent."

12. MACRON LISTENING

13. INVITEES LISTENING

14. SISI ENDING HIS SPEECH / INVITEES APPLAUDING

15. SISI AND MACRON SHAKING HANDS / INVITEES APPLAUDING AND SITTING

16. VARIOUS OF MACRON STANDING AND WALKING TOWARDS STAGE TO DELIVER SPEECH / SISI SITTING NEXT TO SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE ORGANISATION INTERNATIONALE DE LA FRANCOPHONIE LOUISE MUSHIKIWABO, AND EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, BADR ABDELATTY, AND APPLAUDING AMONG INVITEES

17. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER INVITEES LISTENING AND APPLAUDING)

"I want to acknowledge Egypt's commitment, which, with nearly 60 million euros, has allowed this Borg El Arab site to emerge and open its doors to you. The number of students will continue to grow. I understand that the 20th graduating class is quite special. (PAUSES AS AUDIENCE CHEERS) But the idea is that subsequent graduating classes will be increasingly large, and we have made a joint commitment to even exceed the target of 500 students, which is… (PAUSES AS AUDIENCE CHEERS) currently ours."

18. AUDIENCE APPLAUDING

19. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING:

“We have a duty to give you, to give this generation, the chance to make the Mediterranean a unified space once again, the cradle of many civilizations that have always been intertwined but have contributed so much to the world, not just to the countries that border it."

20. SISI, MUSHIKIWABO, AND ABDELATTY LISTENING

21. (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH PRESIDENT, EMMANUEL MACRON, SAYING:

"Ultimately, I would like that through this Senghor University, by some twist of history that we would have managed to invent, where some saw the French language arrive through desires to dominate or conquer, this language will be taken back by all those who speak it, who create in it, who teach it, transform it, shake it up, with new words, whether they come from Pointe-Noire (Congo), from Antananarivo (Capital of Madagascar) or who knows where, and who will succeed in doing so, in fully reunifying the continent.”

22. SISI, MUSHIKIWABO AND ABDELATTY APPLAUDING AMONG INVITEES

23. VARIOUS OF MACRON WALKING OFF STAGE / GREETED BY SISI