Newly appointed Egyptian PM to visit Sudan on Sunday

March 23, 2011 (CAIRO) – The Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf will travel to Sudan Sunday with along with a number of ministers in his first trip abroad since his appointment.

Sharaf and his cabinet was sworn in earlier this month by Egypt‘s military rulers who took over from former president Hosni Mubarak following mass popular uprising across the country demanding his removal.

The Egyptian foreign minister and ministers of agriculture, electricity, irrigation and international cooperation will accompany the PM in his trip which takes him to Khartoum and Juba.

Topping the agenda will likely be the Nile basin Imitative which threatens Egypt and Sudan’s share of the water that is currently governed by colonial era agreements.

Sudan, is an important ally for Egypt in its efforts to block this accord agreed upon by upstream Nile countries that would allow them to implement irrigation and hydropower projects without first seeking Cairo’s consent. Burundi last month became the latest country to join the agreement.

Democratic Republic of Congo has not signed, but Kenya said last year that it expected Congo to come on board.

Under the original deal, Egypt is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic metres of water a year, the lion’s share of the Nile’s total flow of around 84 billion cubic metres.

Egypt says the river’s waters feed a farming sector accounting for a third of all jobs. Cairo fears a reduction in its water flow will bring closer the date on which population growth will outstrip water resources, now thought possible as early as 2017.

The issue was discussed in a visit by Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir who became the first Arab leader to visit post-Mubarak Egypt.

(ST)