Cairo / Anadolu

Egypt expressed its aspiration to reclaim land and establish logistics zones in Tanzania, and to reach understandings on water among the Nile Basin countries.

This came during a press conference held by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with his Tanzanian counterpart Samia Hassan, on the sidelines of a one-day visit he made on Saturday to the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam, according to an official Egyptian source.

During the meeting that brought her together with the Egyptian president, Tanzanian President Samia Hassan praised the Julius Nyerere Dam project.

She affirmed that it embodies a positive model of cooperation for achieving development and prosperity, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.

On December 12, 2018, Egypt signed a contract in Tanzania to build a dam for water storage and electricity generation by establishing a hydropower plant with a capacity of 2,115 megawatts, and in 2022, then-Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry participated in the inauguration of the dam lake filling.

After the expanded talks session concluded, the two presidents witnessed the signing of two memoranda of understanding in the fields of transport, electricity, and renewable energy.

Al-Sisi said in a press conference after the session: "I conducted fruitful and constructive bilateral talks with the President of Tanzania, reflecting our common will to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries in various fields," according to the Egyptian statement.

He added: "We discussed opportunities to start an agricultural reclamation project in Tanzanian lands, with the aim of achieving food security for both countries, meeting national needs for basic and strategic crops, while working to expand the scope of this project in successive stages and move it to the export stage."

Al-Sisi pointed to his country's readiness to "engage in the expansion and development project of Dar es Salaam port, with the necessity of placing the port development plan within a broader vision of the regional logistics corridors plan, and linking it to Tanzania's neighboring countries."

He added: "We also discussed a proposal to establish a shipping line for maritime link between the ports of Safaga (in Egypt) and Dar es Salaam, and to create a multimodal corridor linking Cairo and Dar es Salaam, through establishing a number of joint development projects."

Regarding the Nile River, the Egyptian president said: "In this regard, I affirmed my aspiration to enhance the positive and constructive Tanzanian role, which is based on encouraging the will for understanding and the spirit of cooperation among brothers, the river's partners in the Nile Basin region."

Tanzania is one of the 11 Nile Basin countries, which also include Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, and Egypt.

In October 2024, the Egyptian Ministry of Irrigation called on the Nile Basin countries that signed the "Entebbe" agreement from 1999 to 2024 to review their positions on the agreement and return to discussion on cooperation among them, especially amid fears of its impact on Egypt's annual share of Nile water (55 billion cubic meters), the country's main water source.

In another context, the presidents of Egypt and Tanzania participated in the closing session of a business meeting from both countries, with the presence of more than 35 Egyptian businessmen and about 120 of their Tanzanian counterparts, according to a second statement from the Egyptian presidency.

The Egyptian president, in a speech at the meeting, pointed to "the fruitful talks and practical results in the trade and investment fields."

He noted that "two memoranda of understanding were signed between ministers from both sides, and agreement to proceed with implementing joint projects in the fields of agriculture and livestock."

He added: "We also agreed on projects to develop ports, maritime and rail connectivity, and logistics zones, and in the field of roads and infrastructure, contributing to facilitating trade and goods transport."

Al-Sisi had previously made a visit to Dar es Salaam in August 2017, which was considered at the time the first visit by an Egyptian president since 1968.

The value of trade exchange between Egypt and Tanzania reached $12.3 million during the first quarter of this year, while Egyptian exports to Tanzania increased by 3.2 percent, according to previous Egyptian statistics.