Ethiopia: A consistent proponent for greater cooperation in the Nile Basin

Ethiopia’s Minister of Energy, Alemayehu Tegenu this week reiterated the country’s commitment to the equitable distribution of the Nile’s waters. He was speaking at a workshop organized by the International University of Africa and Ethiopian Embassy in Khartoum to discuss the effects of the Grand Renaissance Dam. Ato Alemayehu took the opportunity to address the concerns of lower riparian neighbours at the potential effects of the Dam’s construction on downstream water levels. He explained Ethiopia had no desire to monopolize the water behind the Dam and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to the Cooperative Framework Agreement principle that no state should exercise hegemony over the Nile waters and their allocation, or claim exclusive rights. Ato Alemayehu went on to highlight Ethiopia’s active policy of cooperation with Sudan and Egypt, and stressed the Dam would only increase the scope of those relationships. Indeed, by improving development opportunities and increasing economic trade between Nile Basin countries, the Grand Renaissance Dam will act as a catalyst for peace and economic integration in the region.

These perspectives have been a consistent element in Ethiopian policy since the project’s inception.

At the launch of the Dam, the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi illustrated this position clearly when he said: “the intention to exercise our rights to use our own rivers is in order to fight poverty…It shows no malice to our neighbours. Among the concerns we factored in when we made the decision to build the Dam with our own resources, was to avoid any negative consequences for our neighbours and indeed to offer positive benefits for all of them. I would dare to say that nothing can provide a better testimony of our deepest commitment to forge a lasting partnership between all the Nile Basin riparian countries than the building of the [Grand Renaissance] Dam”.

Prime Minister Hailemariam has reiterated the same approach. He said earlier this year that Ethiopia is “ready for the negotiations and cooperation at the highest and technical level”. He explained that “the Cooperative Framework Agreement gives this option [of
examination] to all countries, so we have to engage ourselves to get to an agreement where we can work together equally”. These sentiments have been echoed by Saiffudine Hamad Abdallah, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources of Sudan, who has noted that “Sudan can make maximum use of this Dam, which will reduce clay [sediment in Sudanese dams], whose removal costs millions of dollars”. A recent study emphasized that the Ethiopian highlands are “the main source of sediment, pouring a huge amount of eroded soil into the Nile… [with] negative impacts on downstream riparian countries”. A 2008 UNESCO study revealed that sediment deposition had drastically reduced reservoir storage capacities at dams in lower riparian countries leading to problems in hydropower generation. In fact, the Minister noted, “the Dam will provide water at fixed levels that will help irrigated agriculture, especially in the wake of shortages of rain across the regions of the country”. By approaching its partners downstream through dialogue and information-sharing, Ethiopia has provided the opportunity for experts from these countries to have an open discussion about the contributions that the Dam can make to their respective countries including flood control, reduction in siltation and limiting of the loss of water from evaporation.

Ethiopia, in fact, has consistently maintained readiness to engage with the other riparian states downstream on its Nile Basin
hydrological development projects. The recent establishment of an International Panel of Experts by Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt is one example of the desire for cooperation in the Nile Basin. The Panel which consists of ten experts (two Ethiopian, two Sudanese, two Egyptian and four international figures) is set to announce its findings on how the Dam will affect downstream flows in May 2013. The commitment on all sides to await the Panel’s findings is evidence of a move, welcomed by Ethiopia, away from unilateralism and towards collaboration on the part of lower riparian countries. The recent participation of Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi and his speech on the Nile at the African Union Summit as well as the visits of his Prime Minister, Hesham Kandil, to both Sudan and Ethiopia, are further indications of this change in policy. The Egyptian initiative announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Kamel Amr, to further develop the Nile Basin through collective cooperation in the fields of agriculture, irrigation, power generation and
telecommunications is a practical step in the right direction. It confirms Egypt’s keenness to cooperate closely with all Nile Basin countries. Ethiopia welcomes this. It has always been ready to start a new phase in relations between riparian countries, one based on cooperation rather than competition under the principle of equitable distribution of Nile waters.

The desire shown by all sides to cooperate on the sustainable management, use and development of Nile water bodes well for the expected ratification of the CFA by our partners downstream. Once ratified, the CFA, a product of the Nile Basin Initiative, will guide the equitable sharing of Nile waters among all the Nile riparian states. New research underlines the prospects of cooperation. “We would argue that physically there is enough water in the Nile for all the riparian countries”, says Simon Langan, head of the East Africa and Nile Basin office of the International Water Management Institute. The research, published as ‘Nile River Basin: Water, Agriculture, Governance and Livelihoods’, calls for greater cooperation among Nile Basin countries in enacting inclusive water management policies for the benefit of all the river’s stakeholders. It asserts that the Nile “has enough water to supply dams and irrigate parched agriculture in all ten [riparian] countries”. The book provides strong support to the calls, among upper riparian states, for reasonable and equitable distribution of the Nile’s waters within a framework of enhanced cooperation and regional consensus.

‘Abay’, the Amharic name for the Blue Nile, has the connotation of ‘father’ or ‘guardian’. It has been the profound belief of Ethiopians across the centuries that this description of the river is more than just symbolic. We need to underline that the Nile is a gift to all the riparian countries, one which has facilitated the rise and growth of civilizations in all the nations its waters flow through. Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan have long been reliant on the waters that rise in the Ethiopian highlands. It has never been, nor will it ever be, the intention of Ethiopia to jeopardize the livelihood of its brothers and sisters downstream for its own gain. Ethiopia has historically always been opposed to any attempt at monopolizing these collective waters. To the Ethiopians, Sudanese and Egyptians alike, the Blue Nile has always been a common gift given by the Creator. Today, more than ever, that gift must be shared equitably and reasonably for the benefit of all.

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* Originally published on A Week in the Horn – Nov. 23, 2012 issue, titled “Ethiopia: A consistent proponent for greater cooperation in the Nile Basin”. Items from A Week in the Horn are re-published here with a permission to do so. You may republish it with attribution and no modification to its contents.

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