Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sweilem received on Sunday Richard Mutayuba, Ambassador of Tanzania in Cairo, to discuss ways of joint cooperation between the two countries in water issues.
Sweilem said that the meeting comes within the framework of the close cooperation existing between Egypt and Tanzania and Egypt’s desire to strengthen this cooperation. For his part, Mutayuba expressed his country’s keenness to enhance cooperation with Egypt in all fields.
The minister stressed the depth of Egyptian-Tanzanian relations at all levels, as the Nile River represents the lifeline that connects all the basin countries together, pointing out that Egypt has always played a pioneering role in supporting the bonds of cooperation between the Nile Basin countries by creating common interests and achieving mutual benefit for all parties.
During the meeting, the position of the projects being implemented under the umbrella of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries was reviewed, which included the establishment of 30 underground wells in many remote areas to provide pure drinking water to the citizens of Tanzania.
It was agreed to continue activating the articles of the memorandum of understanding to drill 30 additional groundwater wells, and the implementation of two dams to harvest rainwater in accordance with the requirements of the Tanzanian side.
Sweilem invited the Tanzanian side to participate in the international initiative to adapt to climate change (AWARe), noting the importance of this initiative for the state of Tanzania in providing the necessary funds to implement projects on the ground in the field of adaptation in the water sector and confronting the challenges resulting from climate change.
The minister also pointed out the importance of Tanzania benefiting from the training courses offered by the African Center for Water and Climate Adaptation, which was established by Egypt to train and build the capabilities of African specialists in the field of adaptation to climate change under the umbrella of the AWARe initiative.
