By Frances Ringwood

Egypt’s Ministry of Housing has prepared a list of potable water and sewage projects, using funds from a special EGP 1-billion fund set up as an additional allocation for the purpose. These projects will benefit about 8.7 million citizens across 9 of the north African country’s governorates.

Moustafa Madbouly, Egypt’s Minister of Housing and Utilities told press that the ministry is preparing a timetable for projects which need additional funds in order to be finalised. The projects are a priority and the minister has stressed they will be implemented soon.

Increased spend in Egypt’s water and sanitation services comes in the wake of Egyptian Government and NEPAD having launched a special water transportation route stretching from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea.

The project was launched in Egypt’s capital Cairo under the Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative (PICI), to interlink ten East and North African countries from Uganda via Lake Victoria to Egypt through the River Nile and the Mediterranean Sea.

PICI is a continental infrastructure initiative coordinated by NEPAD with the aim to accelerate the efficient and speedy implementation of cross-border infrastructure projects.

The navigational line will run through Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Egypt connecting the Nile Basin countries with Egypt.