President Abdel Fattah El Sisi called for increasing contacts will all African states, especially the Nile Basin countries.

Sisi made the call during his meeting Monday with Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hossam Moghazi and adviser to the defense minister for projects Amir Sayyed Ahmed.

The meeting reviewed the ongoing steps to carry out a state plan to protect and develop the shores of the Egyptian coastal cities, including a project to build a sand berm on the coasts of Port Said to protect them from erosion, presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef said.

The irrigation minister, for his part, reviewed the measures taken by his ministry to remove encroachments on the Nile River and canals.

He also tackled the ongoing efforts to curb the dangers of the torrential rains in Sinai.

President Sisi asserted the importance of finalizing these projects before the end of the current year and the close follow-up of the implementation.

He called for paying more attention to the Egyptian governorates mostly affected by the torrential rains, especially in Sinai, the Red Sea and Upper Egypt.

The spokesman added that the irrigation minister tackled during the meeting the visits he plan to make to some African countries during the coming period, including South Sudan, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo to follow up the projects being carried by Egypt in the fields of irrigation and water resources in these countries.