Egypt to grant South Sudan $300 million for water and electricity projects

Egypt will give the Government of South Sudan $300 million for water and electricity projects as it seeks to build good will among countries along the Nile, the source of almost all of its water, Reuters reported on Sunday.

The grant will be used for building potable water complexes, drilling 30 wells for underground water, setting up river ports and upgrading electricity and water networks, Egypt’s Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasreddin Allam told Reuters.

In May, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and latterly Kenya signed a new deal over the management of the Niles waters in attempt to replace the original colonial-era agreement that gives Egypt the power to veto dams and other water projects in upstream countries.

The Nile Basin Agreement, which took 10 years to negotiate has been rejected by Egypt and Sudan and may trigger a struggle for water resources in the region.

Southern Sudan, which will vote on whether it wishes to separate from northern Sudan in January, has a semi-autonomous government that is yet to form an independent position on the new agreement.

Should the South vote for independence it would create an additional country for the waters of the White Nile to flow through before it reaches Egypt.

Upstream states say that it is unfair for Egypt to keep its historic veto over projects such as hydroelectric damns along Nile as they wish to use the Nile’s water to support economic growth and development.

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Read also: Ethiopia seeks to reassure Egypt over Nile waters

Ethiopia has reassured Egypt that a new pact it signed with four other countries on the sharing of water from the River Nile will not harm Egypt.

Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda in May signed the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework meant to replace a 1959 accord between Egypt and Sudan that gives them control of more than 90 percent of the water flow.

“No one would be left disadvantageous as all riparian countries want to use resources in a reasonable manner… for development,” the state-run Ethiopan News Agency quoted Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin as saying.

“This is a work in progress and we are hoping that we would continue negotiations to bridge the gap that exists in different capitals… ,” he said after talks on Wednesday with his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in Addis Ababa.

Egypt and Sudan are opposed to the new treaty which they believe would reduce their share of the Nile water.