Egypt looking at linking the Mediterranean to Lake Victoria
Egypt, fresh from expanding the Suez Canal, is now eyeing developing the Nile River in a dramatic fashion, something that would astonish explorers from the Victorian age. The nation is to carry out a feasibility study to look at expanding the Nile, the world’s longest river, so that ships will be able to voyage from the Mediterranean all the way to Lake Victoria, a distance of some 4,000 km.
As well as looking at expanding the river Egypt is looking at creating a dedicated shipping line to serve this intra-African route.
The African Development Bank is stumping up $650,000 for the feasibility study.
Were the project to go ahead it could dramatically improve export channels for many countries, including Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
The news comes at a time when a number of African countries are eyeing significant waterway upgrades: Zambia and Malawi pushing for a riverine link to the Indian Ocean via Mozambique and Swaziland even mulling a canal link to the same ocean.