Egypt's Deputy Prime Minister Kamel El Wazir concluded a milestone visit to Djibouti this week, where he finalised a deal to develop the Doraleh port on the Gulf of Aden.
The Egyptian government's announcement of the deal follows a report by The National last week that Cairo has reached agreements to develop ports in Djibouti and neighbouring Eritrea to increase pressure on landlocked Ethiopia in their dispute over Nile waters.
Under those agreements, Egypt will upgrade Doraleh and Eritrea's strategic Red Sea port of Assab to increase their capacity and create berths for warships, and the scope to post small but elite military contingents, sources in Cairo told The National.
Both ports lie near the Bab Al Mandeb strait, which is the southern gate to the Red Sea. Ethiopia, landlocked since Eritrea seceded in 1993 after a long civil war, relies heavily on Doraleh for trade.
Egypt's Transport Ministry, which Mr El Wazir leads, said his visit was made "within the framewor
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