Uganda is preparing to start construction of two multibillion-dollar projects on the Nile River, despite complaints by Egypt that one of the projects will reduce Egypt’s share of the river’s water. Further, Egypt claims that a colonial-era treaty gives it the power to veto the project.
The news regarding construction of the $1.2-billion Karuma hydropower project and a $125-million bridge comes eight months after the May 14, 2010, signing of the Cooperative Framework Agreement. The CFA is a new arrangement within the Nile basin countries— including Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—for an equal share of the water from the 5,584-kilometer-long Nile River.