Eyeing Abyssinia
8 January, 2009 | By Gamal Nkrumah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is impossible to forecast how important the historic visit of Prime
Minister Ahmed Nazif to Ethiopia last week will be. The historic 48-
hour visit was widely acclaimed as a landmark in economic relations
between Egypt and Ethiopia.
water.
It is no secret that Egypt and Ethiopia have had a long-standing
disagreement over the sharing of Nile water resources within the
framework of the Nile Basin Initiative. Nazif's visit to Ethiopia resulted
in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two
countries last Wednesday, 30 December to establish the Egypt-Ethiopia
Council of Commerce.
In practice, the blinding complexities of Egypt's relationship with
Ethiopia are likely to kick off a series of the protracted and disputes of
the past, long behind both neighbours now, and which proved to be
prohibitively expensive and largely fruitless.
Egypt, for instance, is now officially sympathetic to Ethiopia's
determination to construct three medium sized dams on the Blue Nile,
the primary source of Egypt's water, to generate electricity for
industrial purposes. Ethiopia, a country of 85 million people, mostly
youngsters under the age of 20, has recently embarked on a course of
rapid industrialisation. It desperately needs increased water
consumption for its manufacturing, agricultural and domestic use
projected to soar during this decade. Ethiopia, it appears, has finally
managed to persuade Cairo that Ethiopia's plans are designed neither to
start a trade war nor imperil the future of bilateral relations between
Egypt and Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has no intention of circumventing the will of Egypt by building
the new dams. Instead, Ethiopian officials explained that they wish to
interest Egyptian investors into putting their money into such ventures.
Egyptian officials readily resolved to accede to Ethiopia's wishes albeit
conditionally. "We have agreed to the offer as long as it doesn't affect
Egypt's Nile water quota," Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Allam told
reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
Most studies show some impact, though not a huge one, on the very
energy-intensive nascent industries in Ethiopia. Barely three months
ago, in October last year, Minister for International Cooperation Faiza
Abul- Naga visited Ethiopia with Minister of Agriculture and Land
Development Amin Abaza where they met Ethiopian Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Tefera Debrebew. "We are
confident that Egypt is willing and capable of supplying Ethiopia with
much needed appropriate technology for sustainable development,"
Debrebew told reporters.
Ethiopia's Minister of Trade and Industry Girma Birru concurred,
disclosing that Egypt was to participate in the construction of an
industrial zone in Ethiopia.
Nazif was accompanied by a large delegation of Egyptian business
leaders. Some 26 Egyptian agricultural companies are scheduled to
inspect the land proposed by Debrebew. Nazif visited the gigantic Al-
Sewedi Egyptian cable factory that inaugurated its Ethiopian branch two
months ago in Dukem, 37 kms east of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia's
Oromia region.
The question of Israeli investments in Ethiopia inevitably cropped up.
"Nazif did not visit Ethiopia to pontificate," Makram Mohamed Ahmed,
head of Egypt's Press Syndicate, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "There is
nothing that Israeli technicians and experts can provide Ethiopia with
that we in Egypt cannot," he explained.
It is time for Israel to chuck in the towel in Ethiopia. Israel's record in
Ethiopia and Africa at large is, after all, less than exemplary. Egyptian
businessmen are not keen on ramming dubious economic fads down
the throats of Ethiopian recipients. Egypt wishes to collaborate more
closely on the economic and trade fronts with Ethiopia. And, Ethiopia
has now declared that it is eager to cooperate more closely with Egypt.
The Ethiopian compromise, publicly acknowledging Egypt's right to its
quota of Nile water, is an answer so obvious that one wonders why it
was not on the table already. Now that it is, Ethiopia's pragmatism may
produce better results.
Egypt, too, stands poised to prove that it can offer technical assistance
to Ethiopia. Though no small challenge, it is one that can be met.
Thrashing about trying to mend fences with Nile Basin nations and
trying desperately to haul the Nile Basin Initiative out of its sinkhole will
not resolve the development concerns of the upper riparian nations,
including Ethiopia.
The upshot is that Ethiopia's economy is growing at an impressive five
per cent annually, far higher than before. That was thanks
predominantly due to better economic management, debt relief and
increased capital flows from both Western nations and from China and
other Asian economies.
It would be wrong to be wide-eyed about the new rapprochement
between Egypt and Ethiopia. There are sceptics in Ethiopia and other
Nile Basin nations who claim that increased Egyptian interest in upper
riparian countries is simply a ruse to keep Egyptian entrepreneurs in
gainful self-employment.
Much of the criticism of Egyptian investments in Ethiopia rings hollow.
There was a touch of the absurd about the tug-of- war between Egypt
and Ethiopia over the sharing of the Nile waters. Since then, Egypt's
interest in Ethiopia has intensified.
Cairo's engagement with Ethiopia has caused much hand-wringing in
certain quarters. However, Ethiopia is urging Egypt to adopt a scruples-
free approach, and Egypt is apparently obliging. Egypt's scramble to
invest in Ethiopia has got to be better than hesitating to engage.
Courtesy
8 January, 2009 | By Gamal Nkrumah
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is impossible to forecast how important the historic visit of Prime
Minister Ahmed Nazif to Ethiopia last week will be. The historic 48-
hour visit was widely acclaimed as a landmark in economic relations
between Egypt and Ethiopia.
- What is certain is that there
has been a remarkable shift in
the whole tenor of Egyptian-
Ethiopian relations. "We have
moved from mutual distrust
to friendly economic
cooperation," Nazif's host,
his Ethiopian counterpart
Meles Zenawi, summed up
the outcome of Nazif's trip to
water.
It is no secret that Egypt and Ethiopia have had a long-standing
disagreement over the sharing of Nile water resources within the
framework of the Nile Basin Initiative. Nazif's visit to Ethiopia resulted
in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two
countries last Wednesday, 30 December to establish the Egypt-Ethiopia
Council of Commerce.
In practice, the blinding complexities of Egypt's relationship with
Ethiopia are likely to kick off a series of the protracted and disputes of
the past, long behind both neighbours now, and which proved to be
prohibitively expensive and largely fruitless.
Egypt, for instance, is now officially sympathetic to Ethiopia's
determination to construct three medium sized dams on the Blue Nile,
the primary source of Egypt's water, to generate electricity for
industrial purposes. Ethiopia, a country of 85 million people, mostly
youngsters under the age of 20, has recently embarked on a course of
rapid industrialisation. It desperately needs increased water
consumption for its manufacturing, agricultural and domestic use
projected to soar during this decade. Ethiopia, it appears, has finally
managed to persuade Cairo that Ethiopia's plans are designed neither to
start a trade war nor imperil the future of bilateral relations between
Egypt and Ethiopia.
Ethiopia has no intention of circumventing the will of Egypt by building
the new dams. Instead, Ethiopian officials explained that they wish to
interest Egyptian investors into putting their money into such ventures.
Egyptian officials readily resolved to accede to Ethiopia's wishes albeit
conditionally. "We have agreed to the offer as long as it doesn't affect
Egypt's Nile water quota," Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Allam told
reporters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
Most studies show some impact, though not a huge one, on the very
energy-intensive nascent industries in Ethiopia. Barely three months
ago, in October last year, Minister for International Cooperation Faiza
Abul- Naga visited Ethiopia with Minister of Agriculture and Land
Development Amin Abaza where they met Ethiopian Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development Tefera Debrebew. "We are
confident that Egypt is willing and capable of supplying Ethiopia with
much needed appropriate technology for sustainable development,"
Debrebew told reporters.
Ethiopia's Minister of Trade and Industry Girma Birru concurred,
disclosing that Egypt was to participate in the construction of an
industrial zone in Ethiopia.
Nazif was accompanied by a large delegation of Egyptian business
leaders. Some 26 Egyptian agricultural companies are scheduled to
inspect the land proposed by Debrebew. Nazif visited the gigantic Al-
Sewedi Egyptian cable factory that inaugurated its Ethiopian branch two
months ago in Dukem, 37 kms east of Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia's
Oromia region.
The question of Israeli investments in Ethiopia inevitably cropped up.
"Nazif did not visit Ethiopia to pontificate," Makram Mohamed Ahmed,
head of Egypt's Press Syndicate, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "There is
nothing that Israeli technicians and experts can provide Ethiopia with
that we in Egypt cannot," he explained.
It is time for Israel to chuck in the towel in Ethiopia. Israel's record in
Ethiopia and Africa at large is, after all, less than exemplary. Egyptian
businessmen are not keen on ramming dubious economic fads down
the throats of Ethiopian recipients. Egypt wishes to collaborate more
closely on the economic and trade fronts with Ethiopia. And, Ethiopia
has now declared that it is eager to cooperate more closely with Egypt.
The Ethiopian compromise, publicly acknowledging Egypt's right to its
quota of Nile water, is an answer so obvious that one wonders why it
was not on the table already. Now that it is, Ethiopia's pragmatism may
produce better results.
Egypt, too, stands poised to prove that it can offer technical assistance
to Ethiopia. Though no small challenge, it is one that can be met.
Thrashing about trying to mend fences with Nile Basin nations and
trying desperately to haul the Nile Basin Initiative out of its sinkhole will
not resolve the development concerns of the upper riparian nations,
including Ethiopia.
The upshot is that Ethiopia's economy is growing at an impressive five
per cent annually, far higher than before. That was thanks
predominantly due to better economic management, debt relief and
increased capital flows from both Western nations and from China and
other Asian economies.
It would be wrong to be wide-eyed about the new rapprochement
between Egypt and Ethiopia. There are sceptics in Ethiopia and other
Nile Basin nations who claim that increased Egyptian interest in upper
riparian countries is simply a ruse to keep Egyptian entrepreneurs in
gainful self-employment.
Much of the criticism of Egyptian investments in Ethiopia rings hollow.
There was a touch of the absurd about the tug-of- war between Egypt
and Ethiopia over the sharing of the Nile waters. Since then, Egypt's
interest in Ethiopia has intensified.
Cairo's engagement with Ethiopia has caused much hand-wringing in
certain quarters. However, Ethiopia is urging Egypt to adopt a scruples-
free approach, and Egypt is apparently obliging. Egypt's scramble to
invest in Ethiopia has got to be better than hesitating to engage.
Courtesy
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