Egypt Mulls Over Nile Basin Initiative

The Nile Basin Initiative, highly criticized by Sudan and Egypt, continues to gain momentum forcing  Egypt to finally make an attempt to come to a compromise. A 1959 colonial era treaty had given Egypt 87% control over the Nile with the remaining 13% given to Sudan.

About 86% of the Nile’s water originates in the Ethiopian highlands although Ethiopia received no share of the river under the 1929 pact. The Ethiopian Minister of Mines and Energy Alemayehu Tegenu recently visited Cairo to meet with officials urging Egypt to partake in the Nile Basin Initiative. Tegenu told local news agencies that there shouldn’t be any problems in funding a tripartite electricity project with the countries of the eastern Nile Basin (Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan) after studies released indicated the economic and technical benefits of the project.

Ethiopia also announced that it would begin exporting electricity to Sudan by the end of this year, while an agreement with Djibouti was currently underway (Ethiopia Seeks to Become Africa’s 1^st RE Exporter).

Political ties have surrounded the Nile for many years, but Ethiopia tried to lay to rest Egypt’s concerns by stating that it has been keen to maintain good relationships with the North African country. Yet Ethiopian news agencies reported that political analysts suspected that Egypt may use Eritrea, Ethiopia’s nemesis, to destabilize Ethiopia over the initiative.

Egypt wants to continue to hold the lion’s share of the water as the Nile provides 95% of the country’s water supplies, claiming it is a matter of national security. However, Egypt is not the only country that relies on the Nile and while it is concerned for its 85 million residents, there are 200 million people that span elsewhere along the Nile and that population is expected to double within 50 years.

And while Egypt previously enjoyed clout with its strong support coming from the West, a different super power is on the scene that may rock the North African country’s ownership rights. Beijing has invested a great deal in major infrastructure projects in Ethiopia. Ethiopian Electricity Power Corp. (EEPCo) signed an agreement with Chinese company Dongfang Electric Corp. on May 12 for the East African country’s multi-million dollar hydropower project. The agreement, totaling $459 million, will allow the Chinese company to carry out the electro-electricity plant and mechanical works of the Gibe III hydropower project (Ethiopia’s Gibe III Gets Chinese Help).

Nile Basin Initiative Could Play Major Role in France Africa Summit

Egypt Hogs Nile Water Flows

Ethiopia Blames Egypt for Slowing Nile Basin Initiative

Subscribe to Alternative Energy Africa today for more in depth news in the alternative/renewable energy sector and be sure to grab your risk-free trial to see what we’re doing in 2010.