Verbatim | Nov 04,2023
Oct 31 , 2020
By Aaron Tesfaye (PhD)
United States President Donald Trump’s brazen remarks — made on October 23, 2020, during the announcement of a breakthrough in the normalisation of relations between Israel and Sudan — adding that Egypt will “end up blowing [the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance] Dam of Ethiopia,” should be condemned. The President’s inexcusable statement is not in the interest of the people of Egypt, Ethiopia or the US, who are in the thick of combating the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
The Nile River, which stretches for over 6,600Km, is a finite water resource shared by 11 countries and millions of people. Eighty percent of the Nile water that gets to Egypt, including the soil, emanates from Ethiopia. These are facts that should have elicited a more considered and thoughtful response from the President.
The historic process damming the Blue Nile has waded through deserves some reflection. In the past, several Ethiopian governments had taken nominal steps to develop the Nile Basin. These were unsuccessful because of Egypt’s importance to the West, especially its close relationship and strategic importance to the United States and the bearing the country has on Middle Eastern politics.
Beginning in the early 1990s, things started to change as Ethiopia emerged after years of famine and civil war. Within two decades of the Dergue’s ousting, construction on the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) began under late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
But such plans were to fly in the face of colonial-era agreements to which Ethiopia was not invited and allocated most of the water from the Nile either to Egypt or Sudan. It has created resentment among other Nile states, and calls for changes to the pact have abounded. It was already rejected in the 1960s by many African states, due to the Nyerere Doctrine, which does not hold colonial agreements sacrosanct.
The building of the GERD was funded entirely by Ethiopia through no outside help. It is getting closer to completion, and the first filling of its reservoir during the last rainy season has proven that it does not significantly affect Sudan or Egypt.
It is true, of course, that most Nile Basin countries are facing water scarcity, which is driven by environmental and demographic changes, desertification and land degradation. While the impacts of these factors vary from country to country, the bottom line is that the quantity of the current water flow of the Nile, which is tied to rainfall levels in the Ethiopian highlands and the equatorial regions, will decrease rather than increase in the foreseeable future. The need to negotiate and institutionalise a comprehensive water regime is imperative.
There is no international water law applicable to the specific circumstances of the Nile matter for the simple reason that no two river basins are alike. The International Law Commission (ILA) had established several covenants on equitable distribution of transboundary water resources: The Helsinki Rules (1966), The UN Convention (1997) and Berlin Rules (2004), which are not without problems.
The Commission has created a framework that includes the principle of “equitable distribution,” which Ethiopia has adhered too, and the principle of “No harm” to protect the interests of downstream states.
Egypt claims the waters of the Nile are existential to its national security and that the GERD will affect the volume of water flowing down the Nile. Ethiopia has indicated the water will not be significantly reduced by the GERD, and in fact would be an advantage to Sudan and Egypt as it will help manage floods during rainy seasons. Ethiopia has also indicated, on several occasions, the whole purpose of the Dam will only be to generate electricity.
Meanwhile, Egypt has been busy building “facts on the ground” as bargaining chips in future negotiations. Egypt is in the process of building a new administrative capital in the desert, dozens of miles east of Cairo, which will need more water from the Nile River. Egypt also plans to reclaim part of its Western Desert through its mammoth New Valley Project, which will demand more, not less, water.
Whatever their differences, however, there is no alternative to a peaceful negotiation between Egypt and Ethiopia, including the other riparian countries, over the waters of the Nile. But President Trump’s statement is highly revealing and indicates he has failed to become an honest broker in his attempt to help Egypt and Ethiopia cut a deal over their disagreement regarding the GERD. The US president’s statements on Egypt “bombing the Dam” are unbecoming of a leader of a great power, who instead should seek a peaceful resolution to the dispute.
PUBLISHED ON
Oct 31,2020 [ VOL
21 , NO
1070]
Verbatim | Nov 04,2023
Editorial | Sep 10,2023
Fortune News | Dec 05,2020
Agenda | Mar 02,2024
Fortune News | Aug 08,2020
Viewpoints | Feb 27,2021
My Opinion | Nov 13,2021
Commentaries | Jul 29,2023
Addis Fortune | Nov 04,2020
Editorial | Nov 14,2020
Photo Gallery | 96735 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 88918 Views | Apr 26,2019
My Opinion | 67168 Views | Aug 14,2021
Commentaries | 65759 Views | Oct 02,2021
Feb 24 , 2024 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
Abel Yeshitila, a real estate developer with a 12-year track record, finds himself unable to sell homes in his latest venture. Despite slash...
Feb 10 , 2024 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
In his last week's address to Parliament, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) painted a picture of an economy...
Jan 7 , 2024
In the realm of international finance and diplomacy, few cities hold the distinction that Addis Abeba doe...
Sep 30 , 2023 . By AKSAH ITALO
On a chilly morning outside Ke'Geberew Market, Yeshi Chane, a 35-year-old mother cradling her seven-month-old baby, stands amidst the throng...
Apr 20 , 2024
In a departure from its traditionally opaque practices, the National Bank of Ethiopia...
Apr 13 , 2024
In the hushed corridors of the legislative house on Lorenzo Te'azaz Road (Arat Kilo)...
Apr 6 , 2024
In a rather unsettling turn of events, the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (C...
Mar 30 , 2024
Ethiopian authorities find themselves at a crossroads in the shadow of a global econo...
Apr 20 , 2024
Ethiopia's economic reform negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are in their fourth round, taking place in Washington, D...
Apr 20 , 2024 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
An undercurrent of controversy surrounds the appointment of founding members of Amhara Bank after regulat...
An ambitious cooperative housing initiative designed to provide thousands with affordable homes is mired...
Apr 20 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Ethiopia's juice manufacturers confront formidable economic challenges following the reclassification of...