By Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. The president of the Republic Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni recently met and held bilateral talks with the Egyptian delegation led by the Foreign Minister, Dr. Badr Abdelatty to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties.
The meeting that was held at State House Entebbe, saw the Egyptian Foreign Minister conveying greetings from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. He also called for the formation of a joint Egyptian-Ugandan business council that will boost investment in sectors like construction, energy, and pharmaceuticals.“It’s great honour and pressure to be here to convey the best wishes from your brother President Abdel Fattah, who is looking forward to discussing with you and hopefully having a business forum where the business community can explore existing opportunities for investment and mutual benefits,” said Dr Abdelatty.
Joint projects highlights
The Egyptian Foreign Minister pointed out the potential for joint projects through a new financing mechanism recently established by Egypt to support development initiatives in southern Nile Basin countries.Previously, Egypt established a financing mechanism to support development projects in Southern Nile Basin countries, specifically within the Nile Equatorial Lakes region. This initiative aims to enhance investment and facilitate joint projects between Egypt and other Nile Basin nations, potentially through a business council. The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) also plays a role in coordinating and supporting these investments, with a focus on multi-sectoral and basin-wide approaches. The NBI is involved in coordinating and supporting these investments, working with Nile riparian states and other regional organizations. The joint projects include the Kocholio Amoni-Amagoro Irrigation and Food Crop Value Chain Development Project in Kenya and the Ruviryonza Multipurpose Water Resources Management and Development Project in Burundi. The meeting also reflected on enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries by encouraging more investments in different sectors including energy, security as well as digitalization.
The key points discussed
President Museveni and the Egyptian delegation discussed Egypt’s existential concerns over its water security and ways to boost bilateral ties, among other things. He also emphasized the importance of preserving the African waters. At the beginning of August 2025, Uganda and Egypt reaffirmed their longstanding bilateral relations by agreeing on a new cooperation framework aimed at enhancing investment, capacity building, and the development of water resources. The agreement was reached during the Second Round of Bilateral Consultations held in Kampala. The high-level talks were attended by Uganda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Henry Okello Oryem, and Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Badr Abdelatty, among other senior officials from both governments. According to Hon. Oryem, the strong and historical ties between the two nations are built on mutual respect and shared values.He noted that both countries have already successfully implemented several joint projects under previous cooperation frameworks and expressed optimism about deeper engagement going forward. “Uganda and Egypt will continue to leverage this strong relationship to implement even more projects that serve the mutual interests of our peoples,” Oryem said.
How both nations manage River Nile
Uganda and Egypt are working on joint projects related to dam construction, groundwater harvesting, and irrigation along the Nile basin. This cooperation is vital for Egypt to ensure sustainable water access and to mitigate potential conflicts related to water resources. Both African nations cooperate on Nile River management through NBI, a cooperative framework for sustainable development and water resource management. Uganda has a significant interest in hydropower development along the Nile, balancing the need for electricity generation with the preservation of the river’s ecosystems. Historically, Egypt has been heavily reliant on the Nile for its water supply and has worked to ensure its access to water resources through agreements and technical projects.
Why Egypt is interested to strengthen relationships with Uganda
According to Dr Abdelatty, Egypt commends President Museveni’s visionary leadership on Pan-Africanism and South-South cooperation. Egypt also saluted Uganda for its role in peace keeping missions in Somalia and other countries in Africa. Egypt maintains strong relations with Uganda due to shared interests in regional stability, economic cooperation, and water resource management, particularly concerning the Nile River. Egypt sees Uganda as a key partner in promoting peace and security in the region and also seeks to boost investment and trade opportunities with Uganda. Both countries are keen to enhance economic cooperation, including increased investment in various sectors like energy, security, and digitalization. Egypt is interested in exploring investment opportunities in Uganda, particularly in areas like agriculture, vaccines, and pharmaceuticals. The source of the world’s longest river, the Nile River is located in Uganda. Egypt’s water security is heavily reliant on the Nile River, and Uganda’s upstream location makes it a crucial partner in water resource management.
Egypt’s benefit to Uganda
Security cooperation- Egypt has always provide Uganda with security support in terms of training and enhancing the capabilities of Ugandan forces in the fight against terrorism. Uganda enjoys great training opportunities in the finest Egyptian military colleges in order to enhance defence and security cooperation between the two countries. Bilateral cooperation extends also to trade and agriculture. During the recent meeting between President Al- Sis and General Muhoozi, Muhoozi reflected on his time training in Egypt where he completed his Company and Battalion Commander’s courses in Egypt where he was last seen in 2022.
Healthy cooperation- In November 2007, the Egyptian government provided aid of about 750 kg of medicines to victims of the floods that hit northeastern Uganda. Egypt also sent seven containers of 140 metric tons of rice, 400 food oil cartons and 80 large tents delivered to Uganda n first lady in the Ugandan presidential palace on December 5, 2007. In April 2010, Egypt also sent humanitarian relief aid of 1.2 tons of vaccines, 2.5 tons of medicines to the victims of landslides in the eastern Uganda region of Pododa. A financial aid of USD 10,000 was given to the Kapchorwa district for women’s social development. In December 2021, the Egyptian Water Resources and Irrigation Minister, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Aty visited Uganda where he discussed the joint water cooperation projects with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries and Ministry of Water and Environment and inaugurated some joint projects. Egypt also provides support to Uganda in the field of Aquatic weed control as the aquatic weeds, especially water hyacinth, flourished all over the Equatorial Lakes in Uganda in 1998, causing blockages of waterways at the outlets of Lakes Albert and Kyoga and at fish landing sites.
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