Togo president to attend New Suez Canal inauguration

Togo's President Faure Gnassingbé will attend the official inauguration of the New Suez Canal next month, said Egypt's ambassador to the African country Karim Sherif.

In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry, Sherif said the Togolese leader asked him to deliver his greetings to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Gnassingbé also greeted Sisi on the anniversary of the July 23 revolution, said the statement.

He hoped a quantum leap will happen in the bilateral relations.

Gnassingbé hailed his meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab on the sidelines of an international conference in Malabo, said the Egyptian diplomat who met the Togolese leader on the margin of a traditional ceremony in a city in northern Togo.
The total length of the project is 72 km, according to the website of the Suez Canal Authority.

The canal is scheduled to be opened on August 8.

It will increase the daily average of transiting vessels to 97 ships by the year 2023, up from 49 ships at present. It will also achieve direct unstopped transit for 45 ships in the two directions.

The project will increase the Suez Canal revenues from $ 5.3 billion at present to $ 13.226 billion in 2023; an increase equal to 259% that shall positively contribute to Egypt’s national income of hard currencies.

The construction works in the canal kicked off in August 2014.