Negotiations on River Nile near conclusion
Ninety nine percent of the negotiations on the Nile River Cooperative Framework have been concluded, the Egyptian minister for water resources and irrigation, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Zeid, has said.
By Robinah Basalirwa
Ninety nine percent of the negotiations on the Nile River Cooperative Framework have been concluded, the Egyptian minister for water resources and irrigation, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Zeid, has said.
He was speaking during an interview in Cairo last week. Mahmoud said only one point was hanging, adding that the treaty would be ready for signing as soon as it is cleared.
He said the Nile Council of Ministers would meet in Cairo in April to review the progress of the projects under the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the joint technical committees.
Negotiations on the treaty have been going on through the NBI for about 10 years.
The treaty is supposed to replace the 1929 and 1954 agreements that favoured the Sudan and Egypt.
Through the NBI the 10 countries in the Nile valley cooperate to promote development, peace and security. They are Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the DR Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania.
Mahmoud said Egypt would continue supporting the Aquatic Weed Control Project in Uganda. He dismissed claims that their support to the project was because they wanted more Nile water to flow downstream.
The Uganda-Egypt Aquatic Weed Control Project, now in its second phase, involves clearing the water hyacinth from Uganda’s lakes and water channels, as well as developing fish landing sites on Lake Victoria.
The first phase was financed through an Egyptian grant of $13.9m, while another $4.5m will be spent on the second phase.
Mahmoud said they were discussing with Indonesia the possibility of setting up factories in Egypt to manufacture furniture from the water weed. He said processing the weed into animal feeds as suggested, was not economically viable.
Ninety nine percent of the negotiations on the Nile River Cooperative Framework have been concluded, the Egyptian minister for water resources and irrigation, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Zeid, has said.
He was speaking during an interview in Cairo last week. Mahmoud said only one point was hanging, adding that the treaty would be ready for signing as soon as it is cleared.
He said the Nile Council of Ministers would meet in Cairo in April to review the progress of the projects under the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the joint technical committees.
Negotiations on the treaty have been going on through the NBI for about 10 years.
The treaty is supposed to replace the 1929 and 1954 agreements that favoured the Sudan and Egypt.
Through the NBI the 10 countries in the Nile valley cooperate to promote development, peace and security. They are Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the DR Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania.
Mahmoud said Egypt would continue supporting the Aquatic Weed Control Project in Uganda. He dismissed claims that their support to the project was because they wanted more Nile water to flow downstream.
The Uganda-Egypt Aquatic Weed Control Project, now in its second phase, involves clearing the water hyacinth from Uganda’s lakes and water channels, as well as developing fish landing sites on Lake Victoria.
The first phase was financed through an Egyptian grant of $13.9m, while another $4.5m will be spent on the second phase.
Mahmoud said they were discussing with Indonesia the possibility of setting up factories in Egypt to manufacture furniture from the water weed. He said processing the weed into animal feeds as suggested, was not economically viable.