CAIRO (SD) The Egyptian president on Monday hosted his Djiboutian counterpart for talks on improving relations and the disputed Ethiopian dam on the Nile, which Egypt considers a threat.

Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh arrived in Cairo on Sunday and was received at the airport by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Guelleh’s visit comes eight months after al-Sisi’s rare visit to Djibouti.

Al-Sisi became the first Egyptian president to visit Djibouti since the country’s independence in 1977. It was part of an effort by Egypt to form an alliance in pursuit of the Nile River dispute with Ethiopia.

Egypt’s president has reiterated his country’s demand for an agreement on filling of the disputed dam, which cost Ethiopia $ 4.6 billion.

The presidents of Egypt and Djibouti also discussed security in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa, according to Egypt, without providing further details.

President Guelleh described the talks as “effective and fruitful,” saying they discussed ways “to strengthen and improve relations.”