Water diplomacy is gaining momentum in the African continent peculiarly in east Africa as the Horn houses the very strategic site—Ethiopia, which has been nagging with Egypt and Sudan. It is solely the collective wisdom of Africa that will help device a lasting solution.
Even though Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan are at the forefront in securing a methodological covenant on the filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s (GERD’s) reservoir, the spillover effect would encircle the rest 8 states like Tanzania, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Eritrea, and South Sudan—to agree on a legal system for the administration of this important corridor.
“Not only is such a meaningful resource-sharing agreement a means to resolve the conflict over water-use rights among the riparian countries, but it will also help delineate concepts such as evenhanded and judicious use and significant harm, which is being used by the downstream states in their disparagements of the grand dam,” Mesele Chaka, a water engineering graduate at Dilla University.
These three counties have long been in an apprehensive since they could hardly reach consensus to end Nile dispute. Their diplomacy is having a tendon of a pendulum as whenever the one has come to the track either of the rest exacerbates the crack, he said.
In so doing, the water diplomacy for they should have expected to device a lasting solution internalizing Ethiopia’s all benefiting approach, an equitable and fair water shares, instead of roaming the universe and luring with a range of factious narratives and coming up with baseless allegations which do not hold water for the best. Many countries of the world have turned their water share debates into fruitful water diplomacy for augmenting common benefit. East Africans’ is not an exception in this regard.
As to Mesele, if truth be told, three African countries shall sign a deal to end a long-running dispute over the sharing of Nile waters and foster the building of Africa’s biggest hydroelectric dam in Ethiopia.
It requires wisdom and scrupulous diplomacy for the benefit of all riparian states in general and that of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt in particular.
He further elucidated that almost all river sharing countries of the world have been equitability, fairly and legitimately exploiting all the fruits of their shared water. What makes unique when it especially comes to Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan?
As learnt from a range of media outlets, he stated bilateral and trilateral dealings and various grand fora, Egypt has been attempting to push the completion of the GERD citing hanky-panky and pretty silly reasons, even sometimes it has heard of saying that GERD would worsen its water shortages. On the other hand, Ethiopia has strongly believed that the dam will give it a fairer share of Nile waters, if the colonial-era agreements that gave Egypt and Sudan the biggest share of the Nile’s waters, is replaced by a balanced and inclusive treaty, he added.
This could be made real if the three countries are in position to reach on consensus through workable water diplomacy. Here, the agreement among the three should be within reach by the African Union-led process to settle a range of differences. Diplomatically, these differences can be overcome and an accord can be reached following the necessary political will to compromise in line with the spirit of cooperation highlighted in the 2015 Declaration of Principles, Mesele opined.
A Sociology and Social Anthropology Instructor at Medawolabu Univerity, Sultan Bacha said, “Nile is an important Trans boundary water resource critical for the livelihoods and development of the people of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. Construction of the dam hence will significantly boost Ethiopia’s energy sources, allow it to increase electrification, accelerate industrialization and export excess electricity to the region.
As to Sultan recognizing the need for cooperation to fully realize the dam’s benefits and mitigate potential negative effects on the downstream countries, Ethiopia all the time call on its counterparts to come to the middle ground for Nile waters equitable share over Egypt’s sentiment of water hegemony. Diplomacy matter the most, indeed.
Entertaining diplomatic treatments and Trans boundary water cooperation are a key elements in the implementation of the dam construction and filling as cooperation is not a zero-sum game; instead it is pivotal in helping the three countries benefit much out of the covenant, he added.
As to sultan, the river is not only a source of development, but survival, for all riparian States, and as a shared natural resource, it is essential that there shall be cooperation on its use. The project, under construction for a decade, is expected to usher in a new era of development for Ethiopia and potentially the entire sub region, becoming Africa’s biggest hydro-electrical dam.
Indeed, the dam poses a unique opportunity for this part of Africa, where precipitation, droughts, desertification and economic underdevelopment have befallen generations of people.
The three countries can, must, reach a balanced, equitable and fair accord.
According to Sultan, the recent African Union meeting produced a promising format of cooperation — a tripartite committee on technical and legal issues tasked with handling all outstanding problems of the dam’s operation. Noting the contributions of African States to addressing the differences among the three nations, Africans have demonstrated their commitment to the “African solutions for African problems” principle.
Sultan said, “Resolving outstanding key issues like water sharing, drought mitigation and dispute resolution mechanism would set an excellent regional and international precedent for future disputes on these issues.”
Outstanding issues must be resolved peacefully, in a friendly spirit and good faith, in accordance with international law and the 2015 Agreement.
This commitment can only be interpreted as ensuring that filling of the dam is executed in accordance with agreed rules involving the three riparian States.
He further opined that the dam was conceived as a centerpiece of national development aspirations. However, while Ethiopia generates 86 per cent of the total average annual flow of the Nile waters, it has never benefited from the river. On the contrary, still, Egypt accuses Ethiopia of taking unilateral action, overlooking Ethiopia’s natural right for accessing and utilizing its water resources as it is not a matter of choice, but an existential necessity.
Today, tens of millions of Ethiopians still use firewood as a primary fuel source, taking a toll on health and the environment, and rural households, where 85 per cent of citizens live, has no access to electricity, whereas nearly the entire Egyptian population can access power grids.
The Nile Basin countries enjoy one of the oldest relationships in human history, he said, emphasizing that the dam project offers a unique opportunity for Trans boundary cooperation between sisterly countries and should never be an object of competition or mistrust.
Sultan further stated that over the years, Egypt has used its extensive diplomatic connections and the colonial-era 1929 and 1959 agreements to successfully prevent the construction of any major infrastructure projects on the tributaries of the Nile. As a consequence, Ethiopia has not been able to make significant use of the river’s waters. However, as a result of the ability and willingness of Ethiopians at home and abroad to invest in the dam project, the government was able to raise a significant portion of the money needed to start the construction of the GERD.
Poverty alleviation, which is a major concern for all Nile Basin countries, could form the basis of a cooperative arrangement between all the Nile’s riparian.
By and large, improved relations among Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sudanese can go a long way in enhancing the ability of their leaders to negotiate and adopt promises that reflect the interests of citizens, especially concerning economic development and poverty alleviation. For example, Ethiopians and Egyptians are more likely to understand and appreciate the challenges they are facing, particularly in the areas of water security, food production, and poverty eradication, if they regularly interact with each other and engage in more bottom-up, participatory and inclusive approaches to the resolution of their conflicts. Both citizens and governments should be made part of the solution to the water-related conflicts that now threaten peace and security in the Nile Basin. The source of confrontation have to get dried and be converted into avenues of cooperating though a civilized negotiation as conspiracy buries doom; diplomacy helps boom.
BY MENGESHA AMARE
The Ethiopian Herald May 19/2021
