Egypt urges Nile Basin countries to reconsider water pact

CAIRO

Egypt called on the Nile Basin countries on Sunday to reconsider the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), also known as the Entebbe Agreement.

The CFA has been signed by seven out of the 11 Nile Basin states. The signatories are Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi and South Sudan.

Egypt and Sudan want an alternative to the agreement, which now allows other Nile basin countries to conduct projects along the river without the consent of downstream countries.

"We call on the Nile Basin countries that signed the Entebbe Agreement to review their position and return once again to discuss cooperation between countries in a way that does not harm any of the riparian countries,” Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam said at a water event in Cairo.

“Egypt's position is fair and consistent with international river agreements in force internationally,” he added.

The Egyptian minister stressed that the discussions “must include all countries and don’t exclude the interests of one country over another, which would cause harm to it."

Sewilam said Egypt’s water supply does not suffice the country’s needs.

“Egypt will not concede even a single cubic meter of Nile water and firmly rejects the Entebbe Agreement in its current form,” he stressed.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said early Sunday that preserving Egypt’s water resources is an "existential issue."

"The Nile River is the primary source of water for Egypt, accounting for over 98%" of its water supply, he said at the same event.

Egypt has been at odds with Ethiopia over the building of a dam project on the Nile River, which Cairo views as an “existential threat” to its water share. Addis Ababa says that the dam is essential for its development.

Years of negotiations between the two countries have failed to reach an agreement on the dam's filling and operation.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi