Ethiopia has tirelessly been working to build trust among the Nile Riparian Countries; thereby, to level the ground for mutual development, say experts who closely follow developments on the Nile.
The various practical steps the country has taken thus far prove the argument true, the scholars say. They also mention the current massive environmental protection works which also set a new world record by planting over 353 million trees only in a day last Monday.
Its genuine effort to create transparency on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as well as the continued push for the ratification of the Cooperative Framework of Agreement (CFA) on the Nile, setting the example by ratifying the document, could also be additional steps, they say.
Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office Director-General Fekahmed Negash stresses that Ethiopia has played a steadfast role to ensure equitable use of the waters of the Nile, and to build trust among the countries.
Over the past years, the country had got an observatory status despite contributing over 86 percent of the water, he says. “But since the establishment of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in 1999, the country started its full participation and has supported the process greatly.”
Also, its ardent contribution for the formulation of the CFA and unparalleled effort of coordinating the upper riparian countries to come to negotiating table has been remarkable, he adds.
Regarding the building of trust, the series of discussions on the Dam by spearheading the establishment of International Panel of Experts (IPoE), not to mention the provision of paving the way for the gathering of information first hand at the Dam’s site, are mentionable, according to him.
Despite a recent stalemate, the discussion continued at the level of heads of state, he said.
Still, Ethiopia has shown keen interest on resuming discussion. In this regard, Fekahmed said as the current situation in Sudan may not allow resuming the trio talks until the Sudanese resolve their internal skirmishes, it could go bilaterally.
Also, an expert who is also close to the matter told this reporter under the condition of anonymity that downstream countries should take practical steps to resume discussion on the Dam in particular and to foster cooperation along the basin in general.
No country can enjoy a unilateral use of a cross-border river, making the rest to remain onlookers, according to the expert. “That old-fashioned way has no place in modern times.”
To this expert, Ethiopia has shown its firm stance for mutual use of the waters.
The expert’s argument goes: Ethiopia since 2011 through the establishment of the IPoE, and accepting its recommendations has established the Tripartite National Committee-TNC and proven readiness for cooperation and brotherhood.
Furthermore, following the May 15, 2018 meeting of Addis Ababa, the three countries have established the National Independent Scientific Research Study Group which tirelessly worked to come up with an agreeable solution for the challenges the three countries faced with.
“Ethiopia has been this much practical and open. It has extended the olive branch to downstream countries. Sudan has accepted and supported the move, and the ball is now in Egypt’s court.”
To both the experts, the only way to benefit the half billion people of the ten basin countries is cooperation. In one hand, the population boom in the region creates more demands for the water. Wastage of water due to various reasons has also been harming the people.
Fekahmed says around 20 billion meter cube of water evaporates from the Dams in Sudan and Egypt. Also, around 25 billion meter cube of water gets wasted through evaporation and seepage at the open irrigation canals of the two countries. That is almost half of the waters, thus cooperation is a must, not an option.
Making informed negotiation and avoiding political and security fig-leaf helps to devise a genuine solution to the existing and emerging problems regarding the waters, he adds.
Ethiopia has recently reiterated its keenness on resuming tripartite talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to reach an agreement on the outstanding issues. Also, countries that have not still signed the CFA need to follow the suits of Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Burundi. The first three countries have also ratified the document. Uganda is expected to ratify it soon.
Uganda’s State Minister for Environment, Dr. Goretti Kitutu told Uganda’s Daily Monitor on Tuesday that the ratification is aimed at ensuring that upstream countries, including Uganda, also benefit from the Nile, The Ethiopian Herald reported.
