Egyptian delegation heads to Uganda to prepare for Nile Basin summit

CARIO - 19 June 2017: An Egyptian delegation from the Foreign Ministry headed to Entebbe, Uganda, on Monday to attend the ministerial meeting of the Nile Basin countries and prepare for the summit of the basin countries which will be held next Thursday.

Diplomatic sources confirmed President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s participation in the summit of the heads of states of the Nile Basin countries that is set to be held in the Ugandan Capital Kampala, to resolve conflicts over the Entebbe Agreement and discuss the new Egyptian position on the agreement, after six countries from the Nile Basin countries signed it.

The 11 Nile Basin countries are Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt. The last three are downstream countries, while the rest are upstream.

In May 2010, Nile Basin countries signed the Entebbe Agreement in order to replace the 1959 convention that awarded Egypt and Sudan shares of 55.5 and 18.5 billion cubic meters per year respectively.

The summit agenda includes principles for administering Nile water, mutual cooperation mechanisms, water loss prevention mechanisms, and the resumption of cooperation projects.