Irrigation ministry’s delegation visits DR Congo to share Egypt’s water management experience

CAIRO – 27 May 2022: A delegation from the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation paid a visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to share Egypt’s experience on integrated management of water and modern methods of irrigation. 

The ministry said in a press release on Friday that the visit was made under the directives of Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Ati to continue to cement water resources-related cooperation between both countries. 

The minister pointed out that Egypt and DR Congo inked a protocol on technical cooperation to maximize the use of water resources and develop technical cadres to manage this sector. 

Egypt also carried out several development projects in different fields in the African country under cooperation protocols signed between both countries, the minister added. 

The delegation members had meetings with several officials in DR Congo and reviewed water resources, soil quality and crops grown in the African country. 

Egypt has been discussing water issues with DR Congo, which chaired the African Union in 2021 and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) talks. 

Egypt and Sudan have reiterated their call for reaching a legally-binding agreement on the filling and operation of GERD, blaming the failure of the AU-sponsored talks on Ethiopian intransigence. 

In 2021, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi reiterated that Egypt would not accept any harm to its water security as he met with DR Congo’s President and African Union chair Felix Tshisekedi. 

Receiving Tshisekedi in Cairo, Sisi affirmed Egypt’s appreciation of the efforts made by the Congolese president and voiced confidence in the latter’s ability to deal with the GERD issue, the Presidency said. 

Sisi affirmed Egypt’s keenness to support the Congolese efforts within the framework of the negotiations path and under the auspices of DR Congo as the current chair of the African Union. 

Sisi also voiced Egypt’s keenness to involve international partners with the aim of reaching a legally-binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam. 

The Egyptian president affirmed the necessity that a legally-binding agreement is reached on the dam to preserve the Egyptian water rights and spare the region further tensions and instability. 

Tshisekedi affirmed his keenness to intensify coordination on this sensitive issue during the coming period to help all the concerned parties to achieve progress in the trilateral negotiations on GERD. 

The Congolese president also hailed the great efforts Egypt has made to reach a fair and balanced GERD agreement that takes into account the interests of the three countries.