EU provides €3 billion in funds for Egypt’s water resource sector since 2007

The European Union (EU) has provided Egypt with more than €550 million in grants in response to water challenges, leveraging funds of nearly €3 billion in the water resources sector, said the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Várhelyi.

He added that the EU’s existing programmes, funded together with European financing institutions, extend to over 16 Egyptian Governorates, provide nearly 20,000 permanent jobs and 600,000 short term job opportunities, mainly in rural areas. 

“They will help to improve the quality of life for nearly 18.5 million people in Egypt by 2024, almost 20 percent of the population of the country,” Várhelyi explained.

Várhelyi said that Cairo Water Week is one of the biggest water-related gatherings not only in Egypt, but in the Mediterranean as well as in Africa.