Cairo and Khartoum challenged
1 July, 2010 | By Reem Leila (Al-Ahram Weekly)
------------------------------------------------------------------
waters among the nine Nile Basin countries.
At the beginning of the conference, Egypt handed over chairmanship of
Nile-COM to Ethiopia. Ethiopia will hold the rotating chair of Nile-COM
for one year. The conference, held under the theme, "Working together
for a better future", reviewed the activities and performance of the Nile
Basin Initiative (NBI) during the fiscal year 2009/2010. It also approved
the work plan and budget for the fiscal year 2010/2011.
During the meeting -- attended by the water ministers of Egypt and
Sudan -- Ethiopian Water Minister Asfaw Dingamo, requested Egypt
and Sudan to lighten their stiff attitude towards the new Nile
Framework Agreement (NFA) that allows other countries a greater
share of the river's water for economic uses. The agreement, signed on
14 May by the five upstream countries -- Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda,
Kenya and Rwanda -- replaces the 1929 treaty between Egypt and
Britain that gave Cairo veto power over projects conducted on the River
Nile's course. The new treaty allows countries contributing water to the
River Nile to build dams for irrigation purposes and hydropower
stations along the River Nile.
Egypt and Sudan, which are opposing the NFA, will not be forced into
signing a new treaty regarding the sharing of the Nile's waters,
respective officials say. Mohamed Nasreddin Allam, minister of
irrigation and water resources, told the media that, "the new treaty is
not binding on us. It will only be an obligation for the countries that
signed it only. At the same time we will make sure that this treaty won't
affect Egypt's share of the Nile's water." This view was echoed by
Sudanese Water Minister Kamal Ali Mohamed, who told the press after
the meeting that the treaty violated the NBI's basic principles. "This
agreement did not take into consideration all the views. Sudan and
Egypt opposed the article regarding water security, which allows the
rest of the countries that signed up to excessively use the Nile's
waters," said Mohamed.
The NBI is a project funded by a consortium of international donors
and coordinated by the World Bank. This year alone, the NBI has lined
up projects that would cost $11 million, ministers said. For its part, the
World Bank has changed its previous stance. It announced that if the
NFA is signed by six riparian countries it would accept it and will
finance projects that those countries want to establish on the River
Nile's course. After this recent change of position, Egypt and Sudan are
facing a significant challenge.
For the time being, Ethiopia is pressuring the Democratic Republic of
Congo to join the treaty and become the sixth signatory. Efforts are also
being exerted to convince Burundi to join the NFA.
"The monopoly to use the Nile waters by two countries is a monopoly
that we are going to resolve," Dingamo said. He said the NFA was final
and would not be reopened for negotiations. "We are not begging Egypt
and Sudan to give us our fair share of the Nile. We are working to
create a framework built on cooperation. No soldier on the Nile will
prevent us from using the water as long as we are not causing any
significant harm to each other," Dingamo said.
Allam responded by saying: "We have differences about the wording
and other legal issues. I hope we will resolve them soon. If there is
harm, we will negotiate together. Egypt will never oppose any projects
that help our sister countries."
During the meeting, Sudan took the unexpected step of freezing its
membership of the NBI until all controversial issues are resolved.
According to press reports, the move was meant to signal to upstream
countries that failure to reach resolution at the upcoming emergency
meeting could lead to further escalation. But experts believe that
Sudan's step might negatively affect Egypt. According to Diaaeddin El-
Qousy, international water analyst, "Egypt must change its negotiating
policy. Upstream countries do not believe us anymore. They don't
believe that we will truly help them. In the past, Egyptian officials used
to use offensive language against the upstream countries, but now they
are eating their words."
After the meeting, Egypt took the River Nile portfolio away from Allam
and gave it to Fayza Abul-Naga, minister of state for international
cooperation. According to El-Qousy, this was a very important step
towards resolving the crisis. "Abul-Naga will deal with the issue better
than Allam -- there might soon be a solution to the whole crisis. Egypt
can form a multi-disciplinary team in order to pressure all concerned
parties to support Egypt and Sudan in their stance. Egypt must abandon
its current rigid position," El-Qousy said.
Unlike other experts, El-Qousy confirms that even a single dam built
over the smallest branch of the River Nile in Ethiopia would affect
Egypt's 55.5 billion cubic metres quota. "We are suffering water
poverty, we do not want to suffer aridity," stated El-Qousy.
Extending for more than 6,600 kilometres from Lake Victoria to the
Mediterranean, the Nile is a vital water and energy source for the nine
countries through which it flows. According to Essam Khalifa,
spokesman at the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources, Egypt
has no other source of useable water whereas upstream countries have
other sources, such as heavy rains, which cover 98 per cent of their
needs. "The problem can be solved easily if we appreciate the
conditions of each country," Khalifa said.
An exceptional meeting to discuss the NFA will be convened in the
Kenyan capital Nairobi in November.
Courtesy
1 July, 2010 | By Reem Leila (Al-Ahram Weekly)
------------------------------------------------------------------
- The 18th ordinary meeting of
the Nile Council of Ministries
(Nile-COM) took place in the
Ethiopian capital Addis
Ababa. More than 400
international water experts
attended the two-day meeting
that began 24 June and
witnessed now routine
tension between the
waters among the nine Nile Basin countries.
At the beginning of the conference, Egypt handed over chairmanship of
Nile-COM to Ethiopia. Ethiopia will hold the rotating chair of Nile-COM
for one year. The conference, held under the theme, "Working together
for a better future", reviewed the activities and performance of the Nile
Basin Initiative (NBI) during the fiscal year 2009/2010. It also approved
the work plan and budget for the fiscal year 2010/2011.
During the meeting -- attended by the water ministers of Egypt and
Sudan -- Ethiopian Water Minister Asfaw Dingamo, requested Egypt
and Sudan to lighten their stiff attitude towards the new Nile
Framework Agreement (NFA) that allows other countries a greater
share of the river's water for economic uses. The agreement, signed on
14 May by the five upstream countries -- Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda,
Kenya and Rwanda -- replaces the 1929 treaty between Egypt and
Britain that gave Cairo veto power over projects conducted on the River
Nile's course. The new treaty allows countries contributing water to the
River Nile to build dams for irrigation purposes and hydropower
stations along the River Nile.
Egypt and Sudan, which are opposing the NFA, will not be forced into
signing a new treaty regarding the sharing of the Nile's waters,
respective officials say. Mohamed Nasreddin Allam, minister of
irrigation and water resources, told the media that, "the new treaty is
not binding on us. It will only be an obligation for the countries that
signed it only. At the same time we will make sure that this treaty won't
affect Egypt's share of the Nile's water." This view was echoed by
Sudanese Water Minister Kamal Ali Mohamed, who told the press after
the meeting that the treaty violated the NBI's basic principles. "This
agreement did not take into consideration all the views. Sudan and
Egypt opposed the article regarding water security, which allows the
rest of the countries that signed up to excessively use the Nile's
waters," said Mohamed.
The NBI is a project funded by a consortium of international donors
and coordinated by the World Bank. This year alone, the NBI has lined
up projects that would cost $11 million, ministers said. For its part, the
World Bank has changed its previous stance. It announced that if the
NFA is signed by six riparian countries it would accept it and will
finance projects that those countries want to establish on the River
Nile's course. After this recent change of position, Egypt and Sudan are
facing a significant challenge.
For the time being, Ethiopia is pressuring the Democratic Republic of
Congo to join the treaty and become the sixth signatory. Efforts are also
being exerted to convince Burundi to join the NFA.
"The monopoly to use the Nile waters by two countries is a monopoly
that we are going to resolve," Dingamo said. He said the NFA was final
and would not be reopened for negotiations. "We are not begging Egypt
and Sudan to give us our fair share of the Nile. We are working to
create a framework built on cooperation. No soldier on the Nile will
prevent us from using the water as long as we are not causing any
significant harm to each other," Dingamo said.
Allam responded by saying: "We have differences about the wording
and other legal issues. I hope we will resolve them soon. If there is
harm, we will negotiate together. Egypt will never oppose any projects
that help our sister countries."
During the meeting, Sudan took the unexpected step of freezing its
membership of the NBI until all controversial issues are resolved.
According to press reports, the move was meant to signal to upstream
countries that failure to reach resolution at the upcoming emergency
meeting could lead to further escalation. But experts believe that
Sudan's step might negatively affect Egypt. According to Diaaeddin El-
Qousy, international water analyst, "Egypt must change its negotiating
policy. Upstream countries do not believe us anymore. They don't
believe that we will truly help them. In the past, Egyptian officials used
to use offensive language against the upstream countries, but now they
are eating their words."
After the meeting, Egypt took the River Nile portfolio away from Allam
and gave it to Fayza Abul-Naga, minister of state for international
cooperation. According to El-Qousy, this was a very important step
towards resolving the crisis. "Abul-Naga will deal with the issue better
than Allam -- there might soon be a solution to the whole crisis. Egypt
can form a multi-disciplinary team in order to pressure all concerned
parties to support Egypt and Sudan in their stance. Egypt must abandon
its current rigid position," El-Qousy said.
Unlike other experts, El-Qousy confirms that even a single dam built
over the smallest branch of the River Nile in Ethiopia would affect
Egypt's 55.5 billion cubic metres quota. "We are suffering water
poverty, we do not want to suffer aridity," stated El-Qousy.
Extending for more than 6,600 kilometres from Lake Victoria to the
Mediterranean, the Nile is a vital water and energy source for the nine
countries through which it flows. According to Essam Khalifa,
spokesman at the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources, Egypt
has no other source of useable water whereas upstream countries have
other sources, such as heavy rains, which cover 98 per cent of their
needs. "The problem can be solved easily if we appreciate the
conditions of each country," Khalifa said.
An exceptional meeting to discuss the NFA will be convened in the
Kenyan capital Nairobi in November.
Courtesy
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