Egypt says it agreed to South Sudan’s Fula dam

Egypt has agreed to South Sudan’s planned Fula dam after reviewing studies on the project, Egyptian Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam said on Sunday, seeking to clarify comments by South Sudan’s energy minister that his country was not afraid to build dams on the Nile.

Sewilam said the Fula project was among 36 projects submitted under the Nile Basin Initiative and that Egypt had reviewed the relevant studies before agreeing to the projects.

“Egypt agreed to this dam among the 36 projects,” Sewilam told reporters in Cairo.

His comments came after South Sudan’s Energy and Dams Minister Agok Makur said Juba was ready to proceed with plans to develop dams, including Fula, and had no reason to fear opposition from downstream countries such as Egypt.

“We are not afraid to build our dams because we have a right and we are sovereign, and also South Sudan is part of the Nile Basin,” Makur told journalists in Juba on Thursday.

Makur said the Nile Basin Council of Ministers had approved 34 projects, including dams, and that Egypt was among the countries involved in the approval process.

“There is no fear because the countries passing these projects, part of it is Egypt,” he said.

Makur’s remarks drew attention in Egypt amid Cairo’s longstanding concerns over projects on the Nile that could affect its water security, particularly its dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

Sewilam said Makur’s remarks had been misunderstood in some media reports and stressed that Egypt did not oppose the Fula project.

He said the projects submitted through the Nile Basin framework had been accompanied by designs, studies and other documentation, which Egypt reviewed before reaching its decision.

“We found that these effects can be tolerated, so we agreed on all the projects, including four dams,” Sewilam said.

Egypt’s position on Fula differs from its stance on Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Cairo opposes in its current form and says requires a legally binding agreement on its filling and operation.

The proposed Fula hydropower project is located on the White Nile near Nimule in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria State. South Sudan has said developing hydropower is part of its plans to expand electricity generation.

Makur said his ministry had briefed President Salva Kiir Mayardit on preparations for dam construction and that investors and foreign diplomats had expressed interest in the projects.

Sewilam said Egypt’s relations with South Sudan and other countries in the southern Nile Basin are based on cooperation and rejected suggestions that the Fula project represents a new dispute between Cairo and Juba.

The Nile Basin Initiative brings together Nile Basin countries, including Egypt and South Sudan, to promote cooperation over the shared river system.

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