Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sewilam, met on Wednesday with Cécile Couprie, North Africa Regional Director at the French Development Agency (AFD), to review ongoing and prospective cooperation in the water sector, according to a ministry statement.
The talks focused on a joint study to upgrade and optimize the Delta Barrages system. The study aims to improve operational efficiency, optimize water distribution, reduce maintenance and operational costs, and assess alternative approaches to hydraulic and mechanical management. It also includes sediment analysis upstream of the barrages, along with monitoring of water levels and discharge rates.
Sewilam and Couprie also reviewed progress under Egypt’s Third National Drainage Program and discussed potential financing for the upcoming Fourth National Drainage Program. The next phase will cover the construction, replacement, and rehabilitation of subsurface drainage networks across 1.4 million feddans, to be implemented in three stages over a 12-year period.
The meeting further explored opportunities to leverage French expertise in developing a long-term strategy for the maintenance and modernization of water-lifting stations. Minister Sewilam emphasized the importance of enhancing their performance and energy efficiency to reduce electricity consumption and lower carbon emissions, in line with the Ministry’s “Irrigation 2.0″ initiative to address climate change.
Concluding the meeting, the minister invited AFD to participate in the 8th Cairo Water Week, scheduled for October, as a platform to deepen dialogue and explore additional avenues for bilateral cooperation in the water and climate resilience sectors.
