The impact of the Aswan High Dam on the economic development of the U.A.R

Date

1970

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Abstract

The waters of the Nile River have been an attractive target for investment, owing to their tremendous potential for agricultural expansion and for generating cheap hydroelectric power. The government of Egypt, aiming at utilizing as efficiently as possible all of the nation's available natural resources, had decided in 1952 to build the Aswan High Dam. It reasoned that the completion of the Dam would help the country and its citizens in two ways: first, as a basic step toward a solution for Egypt's economic problems; and second, with the gradual disappearance of those obstacles, as a necessary move toward the creation of a balanced, stable economy-one characterized by sustained growth. The Dam provides for a permanent storage of water which would help achieve the following: 1. Regulate the flow of the river, thus stabilizing and increasing the power-generating capacity of the power plants of the original Aswan Dam and the Aswan High Dam. 2. Guarantee an annual average run-off of 84 billion cubic metres of water, which will provide the water needed for successful summer cultivation. 3. Control the Nile, thus preventing the flooddamaged crops and property, which will provide the Egyptian farmers with the kind of security they have always hoped for. This study tries to investigate the Dam's impact on the economic development of the United Arab Republic. The Dam's contribution to agriculture was examined in terms of the expansion in the cultivated area, in the crop area, and in terms of the expected increase in the income of the agricultural sector. The Dam's contribution to industry was examined in terms of the readily available hydroelectric power produced by the Dam's power plant and in terms of the potential expansion in Egypt's industrial sector. In an effort to evaluate the overall impact of the Dam on Egypt's economy and society, some other related factors have been given consideration. These are: the Dam's effect on Egypt's national income, employment, navigation in the Nile and its canals, manpower training, and potential social change.

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Keywords

Aswan High Dam

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