Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sweilam met on Wednesday with a number of African ministers on the sidelines of the 13th Ordinary Session of the General Assembly of African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), which kicked off on Tuesday in Cairo under the chairmanship of Egypt.
Egypt took over the two-year presidency of AMCOW for 2023-2024, succeeding Namibia.
In his meeting with Central Africa Water Minister Arthur Bertrand, Swilam said he looks forward to signing a co-operation protocol between the two countries in the field of water resources in response to the needs of the citizens of the Central African country.
Sweilem pointed out that Egypt offers the ministry’s regional training centre as a tool for training Africans in the field of dealing with climate change, due to Egypt’s belief in the importance of building the capacities of water specialists to improve water management in the African continent.
Sweilam also invited the Central African State to support the international initiative to adapt to climate change in the water sector, and to participate in the inauguration ceremony of the African Centre for Training and Capacity Building in the field of adaptation to climate change ‘PAN AFRICAN’ that was established within the framework of the initiative.
For his part, Minister Bertrand indicated that most African countries face numerous challenges as a result of climate change, which necessitates joint co-operation, referring to his country’s desire to co-operate with Egypt in the field of water reuse and rainwater harvesting.
Minister Sweilam also met his Somali Counterpart Minister of Energy and Water Resources, JamaTaqal. He expressed Egypt’s keenness to support co-operation with African countries for mutual benefit for all parties.
Sweilam also stressed that necessary steps are currently being taken to sign a memorandum of understanding in the field of water resources management, training and capacity building between Egypt and Somalia
The MoU covers providing technical support in the field of designing, rehabilitating and operating irrigation facilities, purifying and dredging irrigation channels.
In another meeting, Minister Sweilam and Chadian Minister of Urban and Rural Hydraulics Alio Ibrahim Aboudlaye discussed issues of mutual concern to both countries. Aboudlaye praised the distinguished relations between Egypt and Chad, and the role played by Egyptian private sector companies in serving development projects in Chad.
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