Egypt hosted a Somali delegation led by Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Mentioned Hussein at Cairo Water Week, an annual occasion to debate insurance policies for water-scarce nations on water administration and strategic planning.
Hussein held talks Oct. 25 with Egyptian Minister of Irrigation and Water Assets Mohamed Abdel-Ati to debate water cooperation between Egypt and Somalia together with Egyptian assist for Somalia to build dams and develop irrigation methods within the Horn of Africa nation, which is ravaged by drought.
Hussein mentioned Somalia was trying ahead to enrolling extra Somalis within the coaching programs organized by Egypt’s Regional Training Center for Water Resources and Irrigation and the Nationwide Water Analysis Middle.
Somalia is among the worst affected international locations by local weather change, with erratic rainfall, excessive temperature and extended droughts. The nation’s common temperatures are among the hottest on the planet, interrupted by transient wet seasons. The Somali economic system is predominantly agricultural.
Rainfall in Somalia is low, with the annual common starting from 215 milimeters within the northeastern areas to roughly 550 milimeters within the southern and central areas.
Somali Ambassador to Egypt Elias Sheikh Omar mentioned his nation was on the lookout for Arab and African assist to cope with its drought disaster.
“Somalia wishes stronger relations with Egypt, significantly within the fields of agriculture and fisheries to serve the pursuits of each the Egyptian and Somali peoples,” the diplomat mentioned on the sidelines of Cairo Water Week.
Abdirahman Ahmed Omar, a Somali researcher in water sources and concrete planning, mentioned all rivers and tributaries in Somalia originate within the Ethiopian Highlands. He defined Somalia has two main rivers: the Juba and Shabelle, each of which originate in Ethiopia, however “Somalia has a lot much less rainfall than its neighboring international locations Ethiopia and Kenya,” making Somalia extremely depending on the rivers for water.
Abbas Sharaki, a professor of geology and water sources at Cairo College, mentioned water initiatives are a principal discipline of cooperation between Egypt and Somalia.
“The 2 international locations can cooperate on constructing dams for harvesting rainwater, constructing wells, establishing trendy irrigation networks, establishing laboratories to research water high quality and forecast rainfall and coaching Somali engineers in water administration, particularly trendy irrigation strategies with a view to creating Somali agriculture,” he instructed Al-Monitor.
Sharaki mentioned Somalia has a particular significance to Egypt’s national security.
“Somalia is situated within the Horn of Africa, the place the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait is the gateway to the Crimson Sea and the Suez Canal,” he mentioned. “Somalia can also be a next-door neighbor to Ethiopia, the principle supply of the Nile water,” he mentioned.
Egypt and Sudan are engaged in a decade-long dispute with Ethiopia over its controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, a principal tributary to the Nile River.Whereas Ethiopia sees the GERD as key to financial improvement, Egypt fears that the hydroelectric dam mission will drastically scale back its water share from the Nile River, the nation’s solely supply of contemporary water.
Cairo and Khartoum have been urgent for a legally binding settlement on the rules for filling and operating the GERD, however Addis Ababa has resisted.
Egypt has carried out a sequence of initiatives in Africa as a part of efforts to broaden its affect within the continent and shield Egyptian pursuits there.
Egypt has carried out a sequence of initiatives in Africa as a part of efforts to broaden its affect within the continent and shield Egyptian pursuits there, similar to a photo voltaic vitality plant in Uganda’s Tororo district, a dam in Tanzania’s Rufiji Riverand wells in South Sudan. The 2 international locations additionally signed a cooperation protocol to handle flooding in South Sudan.
“Each Egyptian cooperation effort in Africa serves to spice up Egypt’s affect on the continent,” Gamal Bayoumi, a former assistant overseas minister, instructed Al-Monitor.
