The name Nile has immediate associations with Egypt for most people. But the mighty river originates in Ethiopia and Uganda, and brings life to 11 more countries. An Ethiopian dam project has long threatened hostilities, but a new agreement signed last month is hoped to avert an East African showdown.
Ethiopian Minister of Water, Energy and Irrigation Alemayehu Tegenu has pledged that his country will go about its work on the dam “in a way that does not cause any significant harm to any country”.
Due for inauguration in late 2017 and costing some $3.5bn, the giant dam will tower over the upper reaches of the Blue Nile tributary in northwest Ethiopia.
Once the connected hydropower plants are up and running, the facility will generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity - equivalent to five nuclear power plants. This means economically-rising Ethiopia can meet its current needs and also become one of the region’s major exporters of electricity.
Customers could include Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Egypt. On March 23, Ethiopia signed a basic agreement with last two countries, which both lie on the Nile, hopefully settling the long-standing row over rights to the river’s water.
Tensions even escalated to the point where Cairo in 2013 seemed ready to use military action to secure its supply, when the dam construction foresaw the diversion of the Blue Nile for a few hundred metres.
Located at the end of the Nile, where the 6,850km-long river empties into the Mediterranean, Egypt understandably fears for its main water source. The Egyptians created a huge reservoir in 1971 with the construction of the Aswan Dam, and if Ethiopia does the same, Cairo expects to see reduced inflow.
But in a hopeful sign, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi attended the signing of the new co-operation agreement with Ethiopia on March 23.
At his meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Sissi proclaimed the past “coolness” between the countries to be history. The agreement was a “strong foundation” and is a “landmark to build on for a brighter future”, Sissi said.
But this does not necessarily mean an end to the dispute, since details of the three-nation deal including Sudan still have to be worked out. The beaming faces of Sissi, Desalegn and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir after the signing could not hide the fact that the Blue Nile will long be the focus of discussion.
Originating in Lake Tana in the Ethiopian highlands, the Blue Nile contributes 85% of the water to the entire river, unlike the White Nile, which originates in Lake Victoria and carries far less. Hence Addis Ababa’s insistence on its primary right to use the river.
Former Ethiopian government adviser Tecola Hagos said it best: “The course of the future history of both Egypt and Ethiopia ... is going to be written with Blue Nile water as ink.”
