Quick Facts
Biography
Hani Sewilam is an Egyptian academic and professor of Water Resources currently serving as minister of Irrigation. He was elected president of African Ministers’ Council of Water in 2023 for a two-year term. He was head of Heribert Nacken Institute and Director of UNESCO Chair in Hydrological Changes and Water Resources Management based in RWTH Aachen University, Germany.
Education and career
Sewilam studied for a Diploma in Water Engineering and a bachelor's degree in Environmental and Irrigation Engineering in Zagazig University, Egypt. He then proceeded to University of Southampton, United Kingdom where he earned an MSc in Environmental and Irrigation Engineering and a PhD in Water Resources Management from Aachen University, Germany. His academic interest focuses on water management, hydrology, desalination and sustainable development.
Sewilam was managing director of the Unesco Chair in Hydrological Changes and Water Resources Management at the RWTH Aachen University, German and academic director of the Department of Engineering Hydrology of Heribert Nacken Institute. Sewilan is the head of the Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES) at the American University in Cairo (AUC).
He was appointed Egyptian minister of Irrigation on 13 August 2022. On 27 February 2023, African Ministers’ Council on Water elected Sewilam president of the organization for a term of two years. he took over form Carl Hermann Schlettwein, minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Resources of Namibia.
Award
Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus award 2022.