CAIRO — In a further sign of growing regional integration, trade exchange between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries rose by 32.6% in 2021, according to the latest data released last month by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

The increase represents a strong recovery after the slight drop recorded in 2020 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and puts the countries back in their previous gradual upward trajectory.

The growth in trade relations between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries reflects Cairo’s bid to make cooperation with the region one of the main pillars of its foreign policy in recent years, driven by the dispute with Ethiopia over the management of the river’s water but also by security and economic opportunities.

“We have seen a notable effort to expand Egypt’s economic footprint in Africa. Egypt is heavily dependent on the Nile for water, and the government’s focus on boosting trade in the Nile Basin is part of a strategy to establish friendlier relations with upstream states, while it is in the midst of a dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam [GERD],” Zaynab Mohamed, a political analyst at Oxford Economics Africa, told Al-Monitor.