Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania Al-Mashat concluded her activities in Assiut by visiting the New Assiut Barrage Project and the Assiut Hydroelectric Power Plant, alongside Major General Essam Saad, the Governor of Assiut.
The aforementioned projects come within the framework of bilateral cooperation between Egypt and Germany. The Minister also visited the training center of the Assiut Potable Water and Sanitation Company, which is supported by the USAID through development financing.
Al-Mashat said that the New Assiut Barrage Project was completed and inaugurated by H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi last year. This project included development financing via the KfW Development Bank worth €218.5, including a €2.4 million grant, to support the irrigation system, to maintain and improve rural and agricultural development in Upper Egypt, and to provide over 6,800 job opportunities.
The Minister added that the New Assiut Barrage Project is the third largest water facility recently built along the Nile to improve irrigation, after the High Dam and the Naga Hammadi Barrage.
The Governor of Assiut, Major General Essam Saad, expressed that the leadership of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has given greater importance on the development of Upper Egypt across various sectors. He also pointed to the participation of the German government, represented by the KfW Development Bank, in supporting the New Assiut Barrage Project, one of the largest water projects on the Nile, amounting to EGP 6.5 billion over 6 years.
The Governor of Assiut added that this project aims to promote sustainable management of water resources and to control and improve irrigation water in 5 governorates: Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, and Assiut; serving 24 million citizens in central Egypt with an area of 1.65 million feddans, comprising 20% of the country’s agricultural areas. This is in addition to improving river navigation, and producing clean, environmentally friendly electricity through a hydroelectric power plant consisting of 4 giant turbines to generate electricity with a capacity of 32 megawatts and a voltage of 66,000 watts.
The project also addresses several of the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 2: Zero Hunger, SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 13: Climate Action.
With regard to the Assiut Hydroelectric Power Plant, Al-Mashat said that the project received development financing from the KfW Development Bank worth €62.6 million. The Minister added that the station supports over 130,000 families with clean energy, which enhances the government of Egypt’s efforts in shifting towards a green economy and in reducing harmful emissions by about 147 thousand tons annually.
The Assiut Hydroelectric Power Plant is part of the country’s effort to increase the use of renewable energy sources to accelerate progress towards the SDGs, in terms of SDG 1: No Poverty, SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. In the past 7 years, Egypt has made great strides in clean energy through international partnerships.
Al-Mashat applauded the development cooperation with Germany, as the total cooperation portfolio amounts to about €1.7 billion, with 18 agreements worth €202 million signed in 2021: within the framework of the joint cooperation strategy, in line with Egypt’s development vision. This includes several sectors such as energy, education, vocational training, private sector engagement, water and sanitation, SMEs, infrastructure, and the financial sector, among other areas.
The Minister also visited the training center in the Assiut Potable Water and Sanitation Company, supported by the USAID. This water project includes customer service and up-to-date regional training centers with 4 training halls and serves the East and West regions and Assiut’s city with a total of 180,000 beneficiaries.
It is worth noting that during 2021, the Government of Egypt concluded development financing agreements amounting to over $2.95 billion to support infrastructure across sectors, from several development partners including, the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and Austria.
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