During a joint press conference with his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni in Cairo, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi affirmed that Egypt supports development efforts in Nile Basin countries.
However, he stressed that Egypt will reject any projects that may impact its share of the river’s water, stressing that this issue is a matter of “life or death” for Egyptians, as the country has no alternative sources or dependable rainfall.
“We agree on the importance of water, as well as development. We will not reject the development of our partners and fellow nations, but we have one issue, which is that development should not impact Egypt’s share of Nile River water,” the President assured
“The volume of water that flows into the Nile Basin, from both the White and Blue Nile, is 1,600 billion cubic meters, of which Egypt and Sudan receive only four percent.”
He emphasized, “We do not reject development; we are not against it, but we must all live and all grow.”
“We affirm that the water issue for Egypt is a matter of life. If we give it up, we give up life because we have no other source of water. Egypt suffers from a lack of rain.”
He concluded, “We are against interfering in the affairs of others and against demolition or destruction, but we will never allow our water to be touched.”
