Egypt is hurting for water, it has to share the Nile with Ethiopia, Uganda, and the two Sudans. And those nations get first dibs on the water before it flows north into Egypt.
Egypt has a young population and a high percentage of them are unemployed. Food has to be imported:
Egypt depends on foreign food supplies and is the world’s largest importer of wheat and second-largest importer of maize. These commodities, which have seen sky-high prices, must be paid for in foreign currency.Like many poor nations, Egypt exports labor and "imports" their remittances. The unrest of the Arab Spring has decreased demand for exported labor.
