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Egypt is the Nile and Nile is for Ethiopia: Who celebrates or fumes?


For a decade now, there have been tensions between some african countries relating to millions if not billions dollar projects on the very shores of the borders that separate them. Just as Ivory Coast accused Ghana in April 2013 of encroaching on a part of its maritime territory rich in hydrocarbons,  the North African nation Egypt has also accused Ethiopia of undertaking an existential threat project - The Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam - on the Blue Nile which supplies water to majority of Egyptians.

  Ethiopia builds one of the world biggest hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile

The Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam(Gerd) has the potential to give millions of ethiopians electricity, and transforming the country.The reservior is already filling, downstream. Egypt, a country built around the Nile, is worried. So why cant Ethiopia and Egypt agree on the Nile Dam?
This whole agitation is about water, history and politics. It's about who set the rules. And it's about how these nations can be.

Egypt's president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi says "The Nile is a question of life, a matter of existence to Egypt". Ethiopian Ambassador to the U.N Taye Atske Selassie Amed join the "debate" with this reply "Needless to say, the Nile is as important to Ethiopia as it is to Egypt and the Sudan as a source of livelihood and economic development".One can imagine the wealth in the water,  and the future of the countries would depend on how they divide the Nile.


 

Brief History of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam(Gerd)

Construction began in 2011, and for Ethiopians this is personal, they paid for it through donations and loans. And the goal is to give electricity to more than 65million ethiopians. There is a grand ambition. In the words of its late project manager,Semegnew Bekele, to "Eradicate our common enemy-poverty". How can this ambition be brought to reality without creating poverty in Sudan and Egypt?

The dam is on the Blue Nile, where most of the Nile's water comes from. It joins the White Nile in Sudan. And from there flows north to Egypt. Egypt is a country whose history and  present interlace with the Nile. Majority of its people live close to it. Egyptians are arguing that if the river changes, everything changes."Egypt is the Nile and Nile is Egypt".

Hussein Abdel-Rahman of Egypt Famers Union highlighted "there is no Egypt without water, we either have water or there is no future for us. Decreasing our water share will kill us slowly". "A colossal project Ethiopia has cosntructed across the Blue Nile could endanger the security and very survival of the entire nation", said the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

            Egyptians depend on the Nile for livelihood.

In 1929, Britain recognised Egypt historical rights to the Nile and the power to veto any future construction upstream. The deal was reinforced after 30 years, favouring Egypt and Sudan. Taye Atske Selassie Amde reminds the Ehtiopians that the 1959 agreement between Egypt and the Sudan has apportioned the entire water of the Nile between the two countries, with Egypt securing the lion's share leaving nothing, nothing for Ethiopia. Does the historical agreement still hold? Sentiments, long hidden grievances and the quest for geographical power occupied the center of this diasgreement. Ethiopia Minister of water, Irrigation and Energy Seleshi Bekele defines the Egyptians claims as "the most absurd thing you ever heard".

What Experts Are Saying

Egyptians have cast Ethiopia as a thief bent on drying up their country, meanwhile, Egypt is portrayed as a neocolonial power trampling on national sovereignty.

The U.S.A, United Nations and African Union have all tried to settle the issue but there is still no harmonic deal. Construction of the Grand Ethiopa Renaissance Dam is ongoing and the country has confirmed that the reservior is filling up. Egypt and Sudan are eager to know how much water Ethiopia will release. They want a guaranteed amount. Sudan's Irregation and Water Resource Miniter Yasser Abbas said "Signing an agreement is a prerequisite for us before filling the dam. Sudan has the right to demand it". But Ethiopia is reluctant to put out any figure. 

Who could resolve this disagreement to agree?


By Stephen Amanor



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