The Irrigation and Water Resources Ministry will hold a conference on Wednesday for donors in South Sudan over financing the Waw Dam, for which technical and economic studies and designs were recently concluded by the ministry.
The conference will cost an estimated US$1 million, which Egypt has declared it will cover.
Egypt has called on 16 international authorities to fund the developmental project that targets the production of electricity and provides drinking water to South Sudanese people.
Irrigation Minister Hossam Moghazy said that having the studies made by Egypt is a message to the whole world that Cairo is not preventing development in the Nile Basin countries as long as the dam doesn't harm the interests of the downstream countries, namely Egypt and Sudan.
In press remarks at the sidelines of his visit to South Sudan on Tuesday, Moghazy said that Cairo suffers from a deficit with regards to its water needs, due to increasing demand and the current rates of drought in the region. Egypt, meanwhile, is 98 percent dependent on the Nile.
On Tuesday, Moghazy began the first meeting for the technical committee formed by Egypt and South Sudan, which will last for three days. This will set an administrative and technical structure for work over the coming years and prepare for the joint water projects that will be carried out in South Sudan.
The committee will then follow up on technical cooperation projects that include developmental projects funded by Egyptian donations estimated at $26.6 million.
Moghazy added that the Waw Dam will change the economic and social map in the areas surrounding the project. Egypt has subsequently prepared a housing plan for villages so the locals may also benefit from the change, in addition to other gains.
Meanwhile, four new sites have been chosen to establish four water stations, resulting in a total of eight water stations, the minister said.
The Juba government, according to the minister, welcomes Egypt's cooperation.
Moghazy's South Sudanese counterpart Jemma Nunu Kumba said that several countries promised to establish developmental projects in South Sudan, but Egypt was the only country that followed through, despite its economic situation.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm and MENA
