Skip to main content

Egypt embarks on new project in Congo amid faltering Nile dam talks

Congolese media announced that Egypt’s Armed Forces Engineering Authority is in the process of implementing a project to make the Congo River navigable, while the negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam falter.
A man drives a canoe on the Congo River near Makotimpoko, Republic of Congo, on January 25, 2019. - In Makotimpoko, nearly 16,000 people found refuge as they fled the ethnically motivated mass killings across the river in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Between December 16 and 17, 2018, at least 535 people were killed in Yumbi Territory, according to the United Nations Joint Office for Human Rights. (Photo by ALEXIS HUGUET / AFP)        (Photo credit should read ALEXIS HUGUET/AFP via Getty Images)

CAIRO — Congolese website Zoom Eco reported Sept. 30 that a delegation from the Egyptian Armed Forces Engineering Authority, headed by Maj. Gen. Mahmoud Shahin, is conducting feasibility studies for a project to make the Congo River navigable in the low-lying sewers in the area between Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the city of Boma.

On Sept. 29, Zoom Eco tweeted a clip of the delegation in which Shahin said, “The Egyptian Armed Forces Engineering Authority has carried out aerial reconnaissance of the project area, in addition to field visits that are scheduled to be carried out until there is a positive, accurate study of the Congo River project.”

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.