Tensions between Nile Basin countries escalate over water use

The Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), also known as the Entebbe Accord, is causing tensions between the countries of the Nile River Basin. The CFA, the first multilateral effort by the states of the area to create a legal and institutional framework to govern the use and management of the river, has been adopted by countries such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In contrast, Egypt and Sudan have rejected it.  

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has urged non-signatory countries to join the agreement in order to ‘achieve together the common goals of development and regional integration’. 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that the Nile water is ‘a matter of existence’ and therefore requires ‘diligent policies, commitment, diplomatic efforts and cooperation with brotherly countries to ensure the achievement of common goals’. 

During his speech on the occasion of Cairo Water Week, the Egyptian leader stressed that for the country the water issue is ‘its top priority’. ‘The Nile River is considered an issue related to the life and survival of Egyptians because it is the main source of water,’ he explained.

Like Egypt, Sudan has also considered the CFA as ‘non-binding’. Both nations consider the agreement to violate the principles of international law, stating that ‘the six-nation commission from which the agreement emerged does not represent the Nile Basin in any way’.  

The Entebbe Agreement was initially signed in 2010 by Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, but was later joined by Kenya and Burundi. This framework imposes a new water sharing and allows the first countries in the Nile basin to establish water projects without agreement with the downstream nations, which is why it is rejected by Sudan and Egypt. 

However, this agreement is not the first crisis faced by the Nile basin countries. The Nile has always been a source of tension, especially between Egypt and Ethiopia since the latter began construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, a major tributary of the Nile River.

Egyptian Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam has called on the Nile Basin countries that signed the agreement to review their position and cooperate in a way that does not harm any of the countries in the area. 

‘Egypt's position is fair and consistent with internationally applied international river agreements,’ added Sewilam, who also stressed that Egypt ‘will not give up a single cubic metre of Nile water and firmly rejects the Entebbe Agreement in its current form‘.  

Once the agreement enters into force, the Nile Basin Commission will be set up to organise and manage water policies among member states in order to gain recognition by international bodies, giving its work a political and legal dimension.  

In addition to this framework, Uganda and South Sudan recently announced a joint plan to build two dams on the Nemour River, a tributary of the White Nile, with a budget of 96 million dollars, to provide agricultural irrigation and develop water supplies and livestock resources for the two countries, in addition to generating electricity. 

On the other hand, Kenya plans to establish a network of dams with a storage capacity of between 8 and 14 billion cubic metres, while Ethiopia plans to build three large dams on the Blue Nile in addition to the Renaissance Dam.  

African affairs expert Mohamed Fouad Rashwan told Al-Arab that the Nile basin countries are approaching a conflict over water resources at a time when several nations are suffering from severe droughts.  

Egypt, for example, suffers from water shortages and is considered one of the driest countries, with an annual rainfall rate of no more than 1.3 billion cubic metres. In contrast, the amount of rainfall in the Upper Nile countries exceeds 1.6 billion cubic metres per year, of which only 3 per cent reaches Egypt.