Egypt is stepping up its role in regional water diplomacy with the launch of a $100 million fund aimed at financing studies and infrastructure, including dams, across countries of the southern Nile Basin.
The initiative was outlined in a joint statement from the country’s Foreign and Irrigation Ministries, which described the fund as carrying an initial $100 million in resources, with individual projects to be selected in line with the needs identified by each participating state.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam presented the plan during talks centred on Egypt’s relations with Nile Basin countries and on coordinating positions on water issues at regional and international level. Framing the fund within a longer track record, the two ministers referenced Egypt’s involvement in a range of ongoing works across the basin, from Tanzania’s Julius Nyerere hydropower scheme to solar powered groundwater wells, river docks, storage facilities, rainfall forecasting centres and water quality labs, alongside flood protection, aquatic weed management, and training programmes for local capacity building.
For the ministers, the aim is to move this cooperation from stated intentions to concrete outcomes, aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Africa Water Vision 2063.
The statement also touched on Egypt’s long-standing position on the eastern Nile Basin, reaffirming its rejection of what it called unilateral actions that run counter to international law. The ministers argued that transboundary Nile waters must be managed under international legal principles, among them the avoidance of harm and the use of prior notification, consultation and consensus. They stressed that defending Egypt’s water security does not run counter to the development ambitions of other basin countries, while making clear that Cairo would rely on the legal avenues available to protect its water rights.
Looking ahead, officials referred to preparations for the 2026 UN Water Conference, where Egypt and Japan are set to co-chair a dialogue titled “Water for the Planet,” as well as Egypt’s role as host of UNCCD COP18 in 2028, a summit expected to tie efforts against drought and desertification more closely to water and food security across the continent.
