Egypt’s Water Minister, South African counterpart discuss outcomes of Cape Town Declaration

CAIRO – 28 August 2025: As part of the activities of the World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden, Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Hani Sweilem, held a bilateral meeting with his South African counterpart, Pemmi Majodina. Both ministers tackled the Cape Town Declaration outcomes.

Sweilem began the meeting by congratulating South Africa and the African Commission on the successful organization and outcomes of the Africa Investment Summit, recently held in South Africa. 

He praised the summit for reinforcing Africa’s unified voice on water financing, and welcomed the adoption of the Cape Town Declaration, describing it as a comprehensive and ambitious roadmap for mobilizing water investments across the continent to help bridge Africa’s annual water financing gap estimated at $30 billion.

The two ministers discussed the next steps for implementing the goals outlined in the Cape Town Declaration, and strategies to elevate its commitments at upcoming global forums. These include the Africa Finance Summit, the Africa Climate Summit, the G20 Leaders' Summit, and the African Union Summit.

Sweilem stressed Egypt’s commitment to working closely with South Africa to align African positions ahead of the 2026 UN Water Conference, aiming to present a unified continental vision. He underscored the importance of high-level coordination to ensure Africa’s water challenges are prioritized on the global agenda.

The meeting also included a review of progress made under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Egypt and South Africa in April 2024, which focuses on water resources management. The ministers discussed the formation and ongoing work of a joint working group established to oversee the MoU’s implementation.