Egypt attends extraordinary meeting of Nile Basin Initiative

CAIRO-March 28: Egypt participated in the extraordinary meeting of Nile Basin Initiative Ministerial Council with a high-level delegation headed by Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Aati.

The meeting was concluded on Monday in Uganda, according to an official statement, and officials discussed concerns preventing Egypt from participating in activities of the Initiative since 2010.

Ministers of Basin countries talked about the Egyptian concerns, while Egypt made a preliminary offer to respond to these observations in create a fair distribution of Nile River water.

A meeting was also held on the sidelines in Entebbe with Ugandan Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Vincent Ssempijja, to discuss existing cooperation and progress of bilateral cooperation projects with Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.

Both ministers talked about establishment of shipyards and rainwater harvesting ponds for population and livestock use.

The Cooperative Framework Agreement, which is known as the Entebbe Agreement, was signed by six Nile Basin countries; Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda but Egypt and Sudan refused to sign it due to concerns regarding water shares.