Egypt is in talks with the African Development Bank (AfDB), seeking finances for feasibility studies on the navigational route project connecting Lake Victoria and Mediterranean Sea, a government official said. Hend Abdel-Fattah – first Under Secretary of the Ministry of International Cooperation – told Amwal Al Ghad Wednesday that the feasibility studies on the project to establish navigational route project connecting Lake Victoria and Mediterranean Sea will cost US$10 million. The Ministry of International Cooperation has concluded pre-feasibility studies worth US$650,000 funded by the AfDB, said Abdel-Fattah. The government official also referred to a series of negotiations between the ministry and a number of banks so as to set up the execution framework for the navigational route project. The project will positively impact on the socio-economic development of all the countries along the Nile River, in addition to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. This would be through improved trade, reduced transport costs, employment and skills development, agriculture, industry and spillover effects to other sectors of the economy through improved access to inland waterway transport and the Mediterranean Sea.
