Africa now sees Egypt differently

Dr. Hisham Kandil Cairo - Akram Ali Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Dr. Hisham Kandil stated that "Egypt is working on cooperation and development with countries of the Nile Basin, as we know the problems they face such as the almost complete lack of electricity...so we decided to work with them with all our might so the Nile Basin countries could be developed jointly and indirectly." Kandil said in an interview with 'Arabstoday' that the World Bank and other financial organisations had earlier supported the Nile Basin countries but stopped in the last decade, which forced the countries to look for new sources to help them establish hydro-electric dams that could benefit other industrial projects. The Irrigation Minister confirmed that Rwanda and Tanzania have ratified the Nile Basin convention, while Uganda and Ethiopia said they will postpone it until the situation in Egypt stabilised. About signing the convention, Kandil said: "We will sign the water convention if it is in our favor, and will not sign anything that could affect us negatively. We are not against development in the Nile Basin countries, but we are working with the principle of common development, not damage or harm." On the possibility of Egypt helping the Nile Basin countries, the minister said: "Egypt is still a developing country, and its capabilities to help the Nile Basin is limited, however we do  whatever we can to help in the areas of trade; for example, we import meat from African countries, and other products, which benefits them in return. Kandil stated that every one of the Nile Basin countries was a sovereign nation and had the right to deal with Israel or any other country the way they saw fit. "All that concerns us is to share good relations with these countries," he said. The minister revealed that the Nile Basin countries' outlook towards Egypt had changed completely after the 25 January Revolution. "They began to realise that the Egyptian people had begun to help them again, and preserve their interests." He believed that international law preserves Egypt's historic rights in the waters of the Nile, and its current and future uses, without coming into conflict with the water rights and security of the other Nile Basin countries. Kandil noted that the political and public initiatives that Egypt activated towards the Nile Basin countries after the revolution did not mean that "we transcend all the points of difference with these countries...the dispute is deep, without underestimation or exaggeration, and cannot be ignored." "But we strive to overcome this dispute, calling for cooperation and establish trust between Egypt and the headwaters of the Nile." On the water challenges facing Egypt in the coming days, not only due to the legal dispute over the agreements with the countries of the Nile water sources, Kandil cautioned exacerbating the consumption of water in agriculture uses. which drains 85 per cent of Egypt's water resources. He also warned of enormous irregularities on the course of the River Nile, and the unplanned expansion in the cultivation of rice.