This comes as Cairo is hosting on Sunday the 17th conference of CISSA, an intelligence provider to the African Union states.

Addressing the heads of the African intelligence and security authorities during the conference, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi highlighted the necessity to continue to exert maximum efforts to protect Africa’s security and achieve the aspirations of people.

Established in 2004 in Nigeria’s Abuja, CISSA is concerned with providing timely and perceptive intelligence required for decision making to the intelligence services of its more than 50 member states through borderless cooperation.

CISSA secures a platform for the member states’ intelligence services to exchange experiences and information required for tackling transnational security threats facing the African continent.

African leaders inaugurated the committee’s headquarters in Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa in February last year on the sidelines of the 33rd AU Summit that El-Sisi chaired as then-president of the AU.

Egypt’s taking over of CISSA comes at a time while the continent is mired in armed conflicts and heightened terrorist activities.

In November, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called for intensifying coordination among African countries to eliminate all forms of terrorism.

Addressing the AU’s Peace and Security Council (PSC), Shoukry also urged serious and urgent cooperation between African countries and regional, continental, and international institutions to confront the growing connection between funding terrorism and other forms of financial crimes.

Egypt has repeatedly affirmed keenness to share its expertise in facing extremist thought and terrorism financing.