Egypt will host next Tuesday the fourth steering committee meetings to discuss the navigation line project that links between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea. The meetings will take place in Cairo between Oct. 16-17. The navigation line project aims to link the Nile Basin countries with a maritime corridor that supports the trade and tourism movement, provides employment opportunities, and increases the possibility of the landlocked countries to contact international seas and ports. The project linking between Lake Victoria and Mediterranean Sea through the Nile is one of Egypt's main concerns in Africa in the fields of economic cooperation, river transport, and infrastructure. It reflects Egypt's desire to strengthen relations with the Nile Basin countries. The naval linkage project is one of the regional flagships sponsored by NEPAD's Presidential Infrastructure Development Initiative. Egypt is leading this project under the patronage of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and the participation of all Nile Basin countries, including Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. In January 2013, the Committee of Heads of State of the participating countries and the Supreme Steering Committee of the African Union agreed on the project proposal in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The importance of the project The project is part of the development of cooperation between Nile Basin countries as it will maximise the economic and political value of the Nile and bring about a renaissance in trade exchange among these countries. The project will facilitate the commercial transport between the Nile Basin countries at a cheap cost, thus facilitating the maritime trade and opening up export markets to the continent of Europe and the Arab countries through Egypt. This will contribute to the recovery of the African countries' economy, raising the rates of development and reducing poverty rates.
