Egypt Business Network

Egypt Business Network

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  • Dr. Nilgün Birgören
    Dr. Nilgün Birgören    Premium Member   Group moderator
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    Egypt must talk on Nile water
    Last summer, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was gearing up for a new era in its decade-old existence. It was supposed to signal a turning point in the geo-partnership that would translate worldwide as an example for other regional bodies dealing with natural resources to follow. Today, however, what optimism there was has gone, having been replaced with power politics and "national security" claims.

    Ahead of a conference in Alexandria last July to renegotiate water resources along the Nile, anger and frustration was already fomenting against Egypt. At the time, analysts, commentators and water experts viewed its refusal to negotiate a new treaty with the other eight NBI nations as wrong and arrogant.

    How things have changed. Last month, NBI water ministers, officials and international donors met in Sharm Al Shaikh to attempt yet again to agree on sharing the Nile's water. Egypt remained obstinate, saying that it could not survive without its 87 per cent share of water and pointed to water shortages that were expected to hit the country in the next five years.

    This time, unlike last July, the Egyptian intelligentsia has largely supported the government's rejection of a new agreement. They argued in local press commentaries, echoing the government's assertions that Egypt's water resources are a national security issue, that "we must not budge on the needs of our country".

    The irony is that while government officials and commentators give a doomsday scenario to justify Egypt's dominance of the Nile's water, millions of Egyptians already suffer from water shortages on a daily basis. Today. Not five years from now.

    The cause of the water cuts is the new upscale developments being erected for Egypt's wealthiest people.

    On one level, the Egyptian officials and commentators are right to fear water shortages. It is easy to see who they are fearful of: those with the economic power. This is why they do not want to renegotiate a treaty that would see the country lose any of the water currently allocated to the country under a 1959 treaty with Sudan.

    Egypt, as the regional leader, politically and economically, could truly become a leader if it were willing to go beyond the desire to keep a treaty first created by its colonial overlords. It could instead create something with the NBI that would truly transcend borders.

    The NBI's main funder, the World Bank, has said it will not go along with any projects in upstream countries unless Egypt agrees.

    There are other options, however, such as desalination efforts that could be made to reduce Egypt's reliance on the Nile. According to the Egyptian Water Partnership, some 95 per cent of the country's drinking and irrigation water comes from the Nile.

    The Egyptian government could come to a deal with the other NBI countries that would see it reduce its Nile resources in favour of erecting desalination plants along the Red Sea and Mediterranean. This would give Egypt the ability to increase water output or keep it at around the same figure without depriving upstream countries of their ability to develop and improve agricultural output.

    With desalination, Egypt could provide a sustainable amount of water along the Red Sea coast that would end the transport of water from the Nile to the coast, hours away.

    Khalid Abu Zeid, director of the Egyptian Water Partnership, agreed. "There needs to be a look into desalination projects in Egypt, because that would give the country another source," he began, "because it could really be a huge boost to Egypt's water needs. It is expensive, but in the long run, it might make these discussions easier if Egypt is seen as looking for alternatives."

    The World Bank could help fund such projects. And at the same time it would show that Egypt is willing to come to terms as the region's leader.

    It could avoid potential war. By negotiating and developing a new treaty that would give upstream countries greater access to the world's largest river, Egypt would signal a new era of partnership and understanding in a region fraught with anger and frustration. If they fail, the region could quickly turn toward violence and posturing.

    There must be a new way along the Nile and Egypt must make an effort to resolve the crisis before it becomes unmanageable. Egypt must make amends, or face the consequences of upstream countries going it alone.


    Source: GulfNews
    • 08 May 2010, 9:25 pm
  • Dr. Nilgün Birgören
    Dr. Nilgün Birgören    Premium Member   Group moderator
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    Re: East Africa seeks more Nile water from Egypt
    Four East African states have signed an agreement to seek more water from the River Nile - a move strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan.

    Under colonial-era accords, the two countries get 90% of the river's water.

    Upstream countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia say it is unfair and want a new deal but nothing has been agreed in 13 years of talks.

    A further three countries were represented at the meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, and may sign up later.

    BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says there is a danger that the split could hamper any further efforts for all nine countries involved to negotiate how the waters should be shared.

    The BBC's Wyre Davies in Cairo says that for Egypt, water is a matter of national security.

    Egypt has dismissed the Entebbe agreement, saying it "is in no way binding on Egypt from a legal perspective".

    "Egypt will not join or sign any agreement that affects its share," ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

    'Rule of the jungle'
    Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda signed the agreement in Entebbe, which would lead to experts determining how much water each country would be entitled to.

    Kenya did not sign the agreement as its minister could not attend. Like Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, it sent officials to Entebbe.

    Ethiopia, for example - the source of the Blue Nile - contributes an estimated 85% of the river waters but is able to make relatively little use of its natural resource.

    Rwanda's Environment Minister Stanislas Kamanzi told the BBC: "Egypt has been requesting to defer the signing of the Cooperative Framework Agreement - we couldn't wait any longer, since we have been negotiating for over 10 years."

    Egypt and Sudan say they will not sign a new deal unless they are first guaranteed an exact share of the water.

    Ahead of the meeting, Ahmed el-Mufti, the legal counsel for Sudan's delegation, told Reuters news agency that all nine countries were close to an agreement, so there was no need for the upstream countries to sign their own deal.

    He also said Egypt and Sudan needed water more than those in more fertile regions.

    "They have a lot of rain: This is nature," he said. "They do not need the water. Here in Sudan we need water."

    Egypt's farmers are almost wholly dependent on the River Nile and its water.

    The BBC's Will Ross says that, with populations soaring, demand for water increasing and climate change having an impact, there are warnings that wrangling over the world's longest river could be a trigger for conflict.

    "If we don't have an agreed co-operative framework, there will be no peace," Kenya's director of water resources John Nyaro told the BBC before the meeting.

    "Where there is no rule of law, the rule of the jungle does not provide peace."


    Source: BBC

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8682387.stm
    • 15 May 2010, 10:17 pm