The late Sir William Gerald Golding is often attributed for saying: “he who rides the sea of the Nile must have sails woven of patience.” This expression of the English novelist denotes the virtue of patience. Indeed, it’s been way more than a decade since the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) set to sail over the governmental and diplomatic shores of the Nile riparians in its quest to institutionalize a basin wide cooperation instrument. The process of formulation of a CFA to establish a permanent River Basin Commission for the Nile River Basin was initiated by the riparian countries early in 1997 even before the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) set its vision. For nearly three decades the CFA was negotiated and signed by six countries and its ratification has since been a slow ride that requires patience.
Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda made historic development in 2010 by signing the CFA in Entebbe, Uganda, and were subsequently joined by Kenya and Burundi, raising the number of the signatories to six. However, for the Treaty to enter into force it requires accession from six countries, whereby it was ratified by five of them except Kenya. The entering of the Framework into force means bringing consensus based modalities among all riparian countries to decide future development in the Nile Basin by accommodating their rational interests.
Then South Sudan emerged as an independent country in 2011 with great appetite for Nile cooperation, and subsequently joined NBI in 2012. Although it could accede to the instrument, the young country could not sign the CFA because the signing process was closed in 2000. Again ushered by Egypt’s rapprochement, South Sudan had been wavering on accession and non-accession to the CFA for a while. Later on the accession of South Sudan rested on the agenda table of its lower house; i.e. the Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA), and come to unanimous approval on 8 July 2024 making the country the sixth signatory. This move could greatly impact the political and security situation in South Sudan as well as the broader hydro-politics and power dynamics in the Nile River Basin.
Understanding CFA
The CFA outlines key principles regarding the use, rights and obligations for cooperative management, protection, conservation and development of the Nile Basin water resources. Although it doesn’t quantify the notion of ‘equitable rights’ or ‘water use allocations,’ the Treaty however intends to establish a framework to “promote integrated management, sustainable development, and harmonious utilization of the basin’s water resources, as well as their conservation and protection for the benefit of present and future generations”.
In broader terms the framework serves as essential water conservation guide for the protection, consumption, conservation and development in accordance with its general principles of cooperation among basin countries on the basis of sovereign equality, territorial integrity, mutual benefit and good faith in order to attain optimal utilization and adequate protection and conservation of the river basin and to promote joint efforts to achieve social and economic development. It also states the importance of sustainable development and subsidiarity, whereby development and protection of the river basin water resources is planned and implemented at the lowest appropriate level.
The framework also entails fundamental issues of equitable and reasonable utilization, prevention of the causing of significant harm to other countries of the basin, while promoting the right of basin countries to use water within their territories in a manner that is consistent with the other basic principles of the framework. Along with the principle that the basin countries take all appropriate measures in protection and conservation of the basin individually and jointly, the framework states that the basin countries exchange data, and information on planned measures through the new Commission to be established. While the environmental impact assessment and audits is crucial the framework notes that water must be managed in an integrated and holistic manner considering its finite and vulnerable character.
In its bid to materialize Nile basin cooperation the framework also states peaceful resolution of disputes in line with the principle of water security for all basin countries. Moreover, the CFA is modeled on the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses also known as the Watercourses Convention that was endorsed by more than one hundred countries, and has been in force since 2014.
The contention
Egypt and Sudan resisted the CFA mainly due to their longstanding ‘historical claim’ over the waters of Nile. Their main source of contention emanates from Article 14 of the CFA which deals with “Water Security”. Even though the two demanded an explicit reference to those ‘uses and rights’ under this article, other basin countries vehemently rejected the demand stating “equitable and reasonable utilization” is already there.
Egypt in particular wants Article 14 to guarantee that no other riparian can take any action that ‘would harm its water security and current uses and rights based on the 1929 and 1959 agreements.’ It is evident that Egypt failed to buy the cooperative features of the CFA fearing that it would be forced to put the old colonial agreements aside and come to share the water more equitably and reasonably with the other basin countries, eventually dodging its longstanding hegemony over the Nile waters. Nile riparian countries have been calling upon Egypt and Sudan to join the CFA and work in the spirit of cooperation with them; however the differences persisted and could not be resolved through negotiations. Hence the unresolved Article 14(b) is set aside to be resolved by the Nile River Basin Commission (NRBC) within six months of its establishment.
What is next?
In order to meet its purpose, the CFA envisages the establishment of a permanent institutional mechanism for cooperation among the Nile Basin countries called the Nile River Basin Commission (NRBC). The new Basin Commission would serve to promote and facilitate the implementation of the CFA and to facilitate cooperation among the Nile Basin countries in the conservation, management and development of the basin and its waters.
According to Article 42, CFA will enter into force 60 days after six countries have ratified or acceded to the document and deposited their instrument with the African Union (AU). Thus, the Treaty is expected to enter into force on 6th October 2024. It is anticipated that the establishment of the NRBC would open gates for cooperation in translating NBI vision, and mobilizing funding to implement more development projects across the basin.
The author (kiram2212@gmail.com) is a researcher on the Nile and transboundary water resources. Interested in development and geopolitics, his work includes management consulting.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
BY KIRAM TADESSE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 25 JULY 2024
