Will Saudi agricultural investments in Sudan leave Egypt high and dry?
Experts say Egypt can’t afford to remain stoic about Sudan’s ever-rising water needs.
CAIRO — Saudi Arabia has been steadily boosting its agricultural investments in Sudan in recent years, raising concerns in Cairo that any increase in Sudan’s use of Nile River water will come at the expense of Egypt’s share.
Riyadh has been encouraging Saudi investors to pump more money into Sudan in conjunction with Sudan’s participation in the Saudi-led intervention against the Houthis in Yemen. Yet internal reports prepared by Egypt’s Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry, along with the Agriculture and Land Reclamation Ministry, confirm that Sudan is already using its entire allotment of Nile water, according to a government official briefed on the issue who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity.
The investments, which include building dams on the Nile in Sudan, threaten Egypt's water security, an Egyptian government source confirmed to Al-Monitor.
On Nov. 3, Saudi Arabia agreed to provide $1.7 billion to construct three dams in northern Sudan. The Kajbar, Dal and Al-Shiraik dams should be completed in five years. That amount comes in addition to $500 million Riyadh has provided for other water and electricity projects and the cultivation of a new 1 million acre area on the banks of the Atbara and Setit rivers in eastern Sudan.
