Ever since the Ethiopian government officially announced the construction of the 5,000 plus MW dam on the Blue Nile River, diplomatic and political tension between Egypt and Ethiopia is increasing incrementally.

In this limelight, hydro-politic pundits have been arguing thus far that even if the Blue Nile is the backbone of Egypt, it is equally crucial to Ethiopia's development. Adding more fuel to the fire, 31 years after the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat stated that Egypt will go to war to prevent any meddling with Blue Nile, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has declared multiple times that Egypt cannot win a war over the Nile River. Experts are arguing that the hegemony of the downstream riparian countries and stockpile of nationalist feelings on both sides are partly to blame for the hostility to fortify.

- Meles criticizes those against Ethiopian hydropower development, pledges to move forward

“If hydropower dams are to be built anywhere on earth, then Ethiopia is a prime candidate.” –PM Meles Zenawi

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denounced the positions taken by groups whom he referred to as “hydropower extremists” who oppose hydropower development in developing countries and some Egyptian politicians who oppose virtually every project in the Nile in upper riparian states arguing this line of view is “not only irrational but also bordering on the criminal”.

During his opening speech at the “Conference of Hydropower for Sustainable Development 2011,” held on Thursday, March 31, the premier noted that “hydropower projects in Ethiopia have been shown to have negligible deletions social and environmental impact compared to virtually anywhere else on earth. They not only cause no appreciable harm to lower riparian countries but actually increase the benefit they derive from these rivers.”He mentioned some advantages of Ethiopian hydropower projects have compared to other similar projects elsewhere: prevention of flooding and siltation of dams downstream, generation clean energy and the increase the river water flow.

Meles went on to say because of this “most informed parties except two small ones” are supportive of Ethiopia’s plan. Meles dismissed environmentalists with concerns as “based and financed in Europe and North America” and therefore, not open to rational arguments.

“Their ‘holier than thou’ attitude is all about the more ironic because these groups are who have done nothing to stop their countries from building all the dams ... subjecting our planet to the threat of catastrophe,” he argued.

“I am not a believer in conspiracy theories but if I were, I would conclude that these people want Africa to remain as it currently is with all its misery and poverty so that they can come and visit nature in its pristine state in the winter ever so often.”

Meles announced the Ethiopian government is set to fully finance major hydropower projects including the “Millennium Dam”, which would cost as much as 3.3 billion euros (70-80 billion Birr).

Urging international partners to support the building of such “socially and environmentally responsible” dams, the premier warned if they failed to do so that they condemning are millions of Africans to poverty “because of the noisy campaign of environmental extremists and some politicians with old fashioned ideas”. The prime minister assured that Ethiopia “will never stop its program because of lack of external support.”

Egypt’s another strategy

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf marked a new era in Egypt-Sudan relations with his visit to Khartoum on Sunday, The visit was concluded by signing nineteen Memorandums of Understandings in the fields of industry, agriculture, information, health and education.

Political analysts forwarded various comments, saying Sharaf’s visit was meant to affirm the countries’ political views and lobby the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) on the issue of Nile waters. Sharaf, who arrived in Khartoum leading a delegation that included ministers of Foreign Affairs, Irrigation and International Cooperation, called for boosting the Egyptian investments in Sudan, currently listed five billion dollars.

According to the Sudan Tribune, the Egyptian foreign minister Nabil el-Araby told reporters in Khartoum that Cairo will be the second after Sudan to recognize the independence of the South after referendum results which almost unanimously called for secession are made official next July.

Sharaf presented Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir with a letter from Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi reaffirming the relations between Khartoum and Cairo and inaugurating two branches of Cairo and Alexandria Universities in Khartoum and Juba.

Sharaf and Al- Bashir stressed the strategic importance of a common stance against Ethiopia's intentions to go ahead with the completion of the Chinese-constructed Tekeze Dam on the Blue Nile, modeled on China's controversial Three Gorges Dam. This will inevitably affect Egypt and North Sudan's access to the Blue Nile, which account for 80 percent of Egypt and North Sudan's water, Al-ahram stated.
Cairo was concerned that the breakup of Sudan would impact its share of the Nile waters, particularly in light of a move by upstream countries to amend the colonial agreements that grants Cairo the lion’s share of the river.

The GoSS on its part assured Egyptian officials on Monday that it will honor the agreements already in place regarding the allocation of the Nile waters.

The five upstream Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) members signed the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) in May 2010 including Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya. To fill the quota needed, Burundi signed the document earlier this month, while the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was given one year to seal the deal. The two downstream countries including Egypt and Sudan, however, refused to sign it; while given a one year extension as DRC in case they change their mind to sign CFA.

"We will be offering a new proposal to the Nile Basin states ... and we hope to find a solution which will not harm any nation," said Hussein Ehsan el-Ateifi, Egypt’s Water Resources and Irrigation Minister told reporters in Khartoum.

Egypt’s long held dominant right over the Nile waters began in 1929 with a colonial-era treaty with Britain. The subsequent 1959 deal with Sudan gave the two downstream countries more than 80 percent control of Nile waters.

Egypt says the river’s waters feed a farming sector accounting for a third of all jobs. Cairo fears a reduction in its water flow will hasten the date when population growth will outstrip water resources, now projected as early as 2017. Under the original deal, Egypt is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic meters of water a year, the majority of the Nile’s total flow of around 84 billion cubic meters.

By Merga Yonas and Yemane Nagish
Ethiopian Reporter