Egypt won’t give up one drop of Nile water rights

by ocean

CAIRO — Egypt is refusing to relinquish a drop of its legal right to the lion’s share of Nile river water, despite demands from other African countries for a more equitable sharing agreement.

Following years of barren negotiations, seven upstream African countries — Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, DR Congo, Rwanda, Burundi– are on Friday expected to push forward with a new water-sharing deal to replace an agreement that gives Egypt and Sudan majority control of the water flow.

Flag of Egypt

Flag of Egypt

Egypt has repeatedly cited its “historical” right on the river which provides the country of 80 million people with 90 percent of its water needs.

The upstream countries want to be able to implement projects, in consultation with Egypt and Sudan, but without Egypt being able to to exercise the veto power it was given by a 1929 colonial-era treaty with Britain.

A 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan — following Sudan’s independence in 1956 — allocated 55.5 billion cubic metres of the Nile to Egypt, and 18.5 billion to Sudan, a combined total of 87 percent of the Nile flow.

Egypt’s water needs are expected to exceed its supply by 2017, according to a government report last year.

“Egypt is exerting efforts with leaders of the upstream countries to persuade them to delay the agreement,” said Hani Raslan, a Nile expert with the Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.

“The only way out of the problem is cooperation,” he added.

Raslan said that the Nile Basin Intitiative — a basin countries umbrella group funded by the World Bank — had studied 22 projects including energy projects, saving lost water and irrigation.

“Unilateral signing will abort these projects. And Egypt will object to any project that affects its share,” Raslan said.

Egypt says it is still hoping to negotiate, failing that it has threatened legal action.

“If certain countries of the Nile Basin sign an agreement without consensus, Egypt will insist that all countries respect international law,” Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit told a local newspaper on Saturday.

“If necessary, we will treat this in the adequate legal way,” he said, adding that his country’s water rights were a “red line.”

The outcome of the next meeting could unravel the 10-year-old Nile Basin Initiative, which the World Bank credits with helping keep the countries talking with each other on quotas.

Raslan says that an agreement on May 14 that excluded Egypt and Sudan would bring an end to the initiative, a message Abul Gheit says has been delivered to the basin countries.

“Egypt has been careful to affirm to the Nile Basin countries and donors that opening the door to signing the agreement means the end of negotiations and an announcement that the Nile Basin Initiative has failed,” he said.

Egypt has proposed to help manage its African partners’ water resources, and vowed to better make use of its own.

But Egyptian diplomats say the African countries will have a hard time financing large projects if there is no consensus among the Nile countries.

Cairo “will not accept the construction of any project in the Nile basin that could affect its water resources,” Abul Gheit said.

Some observers say Egypt is not serious about negotiating.

“Egyptians are behaving with the Africans the way they accuse Israel of behaving with the Palestinians: they say they are ready to negotiate but without committing to the difficult issues,” one western diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.

And Egypt insists that the Africans have other sources of water.

“Egypt only has water coming from the river. The Africans have it from the rains,” one Egyptian diplomat said.

Source: AFP

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7 comments

Jemal Muhe May 12, 2010 - 8:08 pm

5/14/10????

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Misrie ⎝⏠⏝⏠⎠ Tiyya May 13, 2010 - 4:03 am

well, that’s shocker. now what?

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Getachew Shibabaw May 13, 2010 - 9:03 am

We know that it is their life but it’s ours too. So they have to be fair!? and we will have to.

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Woldeghion Tarekegn Alemu May 13, 2010 - 10:03 am

would be scary, water resource may be one of a major reason of future war in the horn.

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ItIs Taye May 13, 2010 - 11:03 am

What does this mean: “Egypt only has water coming from the river. The Africans have it from the rains,” one Egyptian diplomat said.
We will see what our politicians say on this issue. Kemogn dej mofer yikoretal……alu.

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Kude May 22, 2010 - 9:04 am

My Country (Ethiopia) generated 86% of the river but without a single share of the River.
Shame on 1929 agreement which our prime minister said ‘It is Out of date’ and that works during the colonial period and will no more.

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Tady May 25, 2010 - 1:13 pm

How on earth do they think to deprive of our resource and share, from utilizing to our end. Do they know that we were not utilizing our resource and daying of hunger in the past because of our proplem not because of the egyptian poletician menace. It is high time for egypt to go with the cooperation or else we are in a move to do on our behalf while not harming the lower riparian country.

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