A number of oral literatures that have appreciated and admired River Nile water and its values both in the upper and lower stream countries have existed for centuries. Numerous traditional and modern Ethiopian vocalists have also explained their admiration of the river’s water wealth through their mesmerizing and lyrical songs. More than 10 thousand poems, which describe its vastness and lengthiness, have also been written in multiple languages.
The Greek philosopher Homer, who lived before the birth of Christ, said, “Egypt is a gift of Nile,” which definitely means the Nile, is the source of the existence of Egypt. The same is true that Ethiopia is the source of Nile and contributes about 86% of water volume for the river. Beginning in medieval times, Nile had determined the political relations between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt, and when political friction occurred, Ethiopian rulers verbally used to threaten Egypt to block the flow of the water by constructing dams. Similarly, Egypt, to counteract the threat, vowed not to send Coptic pops to Ethiopia because at that time the Ethiopian Orthodox church was under the rule of the Egyptian Coptic church. Such verbal war was common during the era of King Dawit in the fourteenth century.
Anthropologists proved that the Nile basin is the genesis of human civilization, and till now, a huge population in both Sudan and Egypt resides in the river basin, and water harvesting and irrigation have been practiced since time immemorial through traditional technology that relied on human and animal labor.
The renowned Ethiopian poet, playwright, and Egyptologist, Laureate Tsegaye Geberemedhin, also proved by his studies that the ancient civilization of Egypt emerged from Ethiopia, and the human settlement on the banks of the river Abbay down to the lower Riparian countries played its own role in the expansion of the civilization.
Though Ethiopia is source of Nile, no evidence is recorded regarding the practice of irrigation in the Nile Basin inside Ethiopia’s territory. However, as an ancient country, agriculture has a long history and practiced even before the birth of Christ. Domestication of crops and animals was centuries old practice and proved Ethiopia’s ancient civilization.
According to agronomists, the availability of sufficient rain water might made farmers to be reluctant in practicing irrigation and until the modern time, no Ethiopian ruler endeavored for the full utilization of the Nile water be it for irrigation or hydropower generation.
The flow of the river’s water in the deep gorges also hampered farmers to pump water to the plateaus where farming is cultivated. The ruggedness of the Nile gorge also made practicing irrigation very difficult and expensive. In the dawn of the 20th century, it is believed that the absence of technology, finance and the poor economic development inhibited Ethiopian rulers to aspire for water exploitation of Nile River.
Furthermore, the water though originated from Ethiopia, lies more in the surface of Sudan and Egypt than in Ethiopia. Even until to date, only few Ethiopians residing in the banks of River Abbay have exposure to see and experience to cross the river for various purposes.
On the part of Egypt, after the brief occupation of Napoleon from 1798 to 1801 the then Egyptian ruler, Mohamed Ali Pasha strived for the establishment of strong central government, for water harvesting, the development of irrigation farm and dams in the vast areas of the river basin. Later with his strong army invaded the territory up to the boarders of Ethiopia and Uganda to control both the source of white and Blue Nile but his incursion was deterred by Emperor Tewodros II.
In the succeeding decades, the coming to power of the members of his dynasty, Seid Pasha, Kehdive Ismael and the occupation of Egypt by Britain from 1882 to 1921 made the situation to be radically changed. Seid Pasha who ruled Egypt from 1854 to 1863 permitted the French Engineer to build Suez Canal at the last decade of the 19th century which connects Red Sea with Europe, India and Far East.
This phase further enhanced the magnitude of the value of trade and shortened the long distance trade from Europe to Asia through Atlantic Ocean via Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. This new development can be said as eye opener situation for European powers to exert their influence in the region. The establishment of the Suez Canal enabled Egypt to earn huge revenue from the passing ships which in turn helped to modernize its military institutions and import hard wares. In addition, it enabled Egypt to maximize its political leverage to influence the region and to bypass its neighboring countries economically and technologically.
The economic growth further made the Egyptian rulers to be more ambitious not only to exploit the water resources but also to control the water source by military means. Then Kehdive Ismael, to realize his grandfather’s dream, with the help of Turkey, controlled Massawa and Swakin by 1865 and later occupied northern Somalia up to Harar and made war of intrusive with Ethiopia but was successively defeated by the Ethiopian King emperor Johannes II at the battle of Gura and Gundet. Egyptians’ intruders were also curtailed and defeated by the Afars in the Afar plains.
After the second half of the 19th century onwards, Egyptians were devoted to upgrade their substantial military and political capacity with the support of the colonial powers to maximize their water grid regardless of the interest of the upper riparian countries. The opening of Suez Canal also later paved the advent of the British, French and later Italian colonial ambition in the suburb of Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean to control East Africa.
Of course, during the colonial era from the last quarter of the 19th century up to the second half of the 20th century, all the upper riparian countries were under the yolk of colonialism except Ethiopia and let alone to determine on the Nile, they had no right to assert their future. Hence, the then colonial power in the Horn of Africa, Great Britain with its African allies and colonial rivals, could impose its interest many times on the Nile utilization by disregarding the upper riparian countries’ economic and development aspiration. The 1902 and the 1929 agreement between Britain, Egypt and Sudan can be mentioned as the case in point.
The 1902 treaty between Great Britain and Ethiopia stipulated regulated borders and stated that Ethiopia would not construct dams on the Blue Nile, Lake Tana, or Sobat rivers without agreement from Britain and Sudan. The 1959 Nile Waters Agreement between Sudan and Egypt reiterated that for full control and utilization of the Nile waters. This agreement included: The controversy on the quantity of average annual Nile water flow was settled and agreed to be about 84 billion cubic meters measured at Aswan High Dam, in Egypt. Sadly, the current Egyptian politicians did not give up this nostalgia, and their ambition is to impose the monopoly ownership of the Nile water usage.
In the 1930s when fascist Italy prepared to invade Ethiopia, the neighboring colonial powers Britain and France, without considering the sovereignty of Ethiopia, endorsed the occupation but stipulated that, Italy not to construct dam on river Nile and Lake Tana. These again proved that how colonial powers had embarrassing stance and compromised Ethiopia’s sovereignty as long as their economic interest was protected.
From the Ethiopian side, during the reign of emperor Haile Selassie I, with the support of American companies, research for the development of Nile basin had been conducted which paved the way for the construction of about 32 small hydropower dams, but because of various reasons, it could not be translated in to practice and until the dawn fall of the Derg regime in 1991, the relation between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan was at the logger head and the upper Nile countries effort to utilize the water source for development was negligible.
There was no mutual trust and covert activities were common among the riparian countries and due to its inherent problem, Ethiopia did not get sufficient time and finance for the development of its water resources.
Currently, the ongoing construction of the Abbay Dam could defuse the past mistrust between the upper and lower riparian countries, and the continued negotiations are also expected to bring trust among the riparian countries. The lower riparian countries seem to recognize the rights of the upper riparian countries to utilize their water resources. Up on completion, the Abbay Dam will generate over 5, 000 megawatts of hydropower, and the exportation of electric power to the neighboring countries will facilitate the situation for regional economic integration.
The construction of the Abbay Dam will bring multifaceted benefits to the downstream countries. The dam is located relatively in a mild altitude place that enables reducing the evaporation rate of the water, and when compared to the dams constructed in the downstream countries, it is negligible. It also protects the dams from siltation and sedimentation so that it prolongs the life span of the hydropower dams located in the lower riparian countries.
The Abbay Dam also regulates the flow of water to the downstream countries and helps not to suffer from the reduction of water volume during drought and flood during the rainy season.
By now, Egypt has 3 million hectares of irrigated farmland, which consumes 60 billion cubic meters of water annually through utilizing the Nile water, while Sudan has developed 2 million hectares, which consume 16 billion cubic meters of water. Thus, cognizant of the value of the exploitation of water sources for multifaceted economic development, all Ethiopians should stand together for the speedy completion of the Abbay Dam.
BY ABEBE WOLDEGIORGIS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 15 SEPTEMBER 2024
