At the end of his visit to Africa,  from 11 to 14 October 2012, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter had meetings in Cairo with Egypt’s prime minister as well as with the foreign minister. Earlier in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo the Head of the FDFA inspected various Swiss international cooperation projects. He also participated in the Ministerial Conference of the Francophonie Summit.

The Conference's purpose is to ensure continuity of policy from one Summit to the next and to see to it that the decisions reached are duly implemented. The Swiss foreign minister took the opportunity to report on Switzerland’s presidency (2010–12) since the Montreux Summit and to reiterate Switzerland’s positions within the organisation with the aim of reaffirming the values of the Francophonie with regard to democratic governance and with a view to raising the visibility of the Organisation in the world.

 Interview with Didier Burkhalter (TV5 Monde)
 Exam and adoption of Kinshasa Declaration
 Montreux Summit assessment (fr)
 Project summary on massive online courses in Africa and future emerging countries (pdf, 761 Kb) (fr)

The XIVth Francophonie Summit was devoted to the following theme proposed by the DRC: «Francophonie, environmental and economic challenges of the French-speaking world in the face of global governance». As the supreme Francophonie body, the Summit brings together high-ranking representatives of the 75 nations that have the French language or values in common; it convenes every two years in one of the member states.

The Swiss delegation was headed by Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer, vice-president of the Swiss Federal Council. He handed over the presidency of the Summit to the DRC.

On 12 October, the Head of the FDFA had a meeting with Roger Meece, head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Didier Burkhalter met also with a delegation from the Swiss MONUSCO contingent as well as representatives of Radio Okapi, a joint project of the UN and the Hirondelle Foundation, which has its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.  
 Project Radio Okapi

Didier Burkhalter visited a health-related SDC project in Uvira in South Kivu (DRC). Since 2009, support for the renovation of hospitals in the region and efforts to strengthen the healthcare system have helped to improve access to healthcare for an estimated one million people. 
 Health-related project in South Kivu

The Head of the FDFA also travelled to Burundi to visit projects that are part of the FDFA’s Great Lakes strategy. In this region, Switzerland takes a coordinated approach based on three of its foreign policy instruments, namely development, promoting peace and human rights, and humanitarian aid.  Great Lakes strategy

At the end of his trip, the Swiss foreign minister visited Egypt. He met Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil and Foreign Minister Kamel Amr.
 Interview with Didier Burkhalter (RTS, fr)

Didier Burkhalter also visited a blood donation centre supported by Switzerland. SDC projects in Egypt focus on job creation, support for the democratisation process, respect for human rights, and issues related to migration.
 Swiss commitment in Egypt