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On March 30th, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned of “unimaginable instability” if Ethiopian dam begins full-scale operation.
Egypt, along with its southern neighbour Sudan, is seeking a legally binding agreement over the operations of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Addis Ababa says is crucial to its economic development.
“I’m not threatening anyone here, our dialogue is always reasonable and rational,” el-Sisi said. “I say once again no one can take a drop from Egypt’s water, and if it happens there will be inconceivable instability in the region.
“Any act of hostility is detestable … but our reaction in the event that we are affected” by a reduction in Egypt’s own water supply “will affect the stability of the entire region”, he declared at a news conference in the Suez city of Ismailia.
The construction of the dam, on the Blue Nile close to Ethiopia’s border with Sudan, has heightened regional tensions.
Egypt fears the dam will imperil its supplies of Nile water while Sudan is concerned about the dam’s safety and about regulating water flows through its own dams and water stations.
“Ethiopia doesn’t have any intention to cause harm to Sudan and Egypt. But we also don’t want to live in darkness,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.
The Nile, the world’s longest river, is a lifeline supplying both water and electricity to the 10 countries it traverses. Ethiopia says that GERD is needed to supply electricity to its 110 million people.
Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, sees the dam as an existential threat.
Sudan is also downstream and it fears that its own dams will be compromised.
Egypt’s share of the Nile’s waters “is a red line”, el-Sisi said.
On March 30th, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Dina Mufti said that Addis Ababa was committed to regional talks, involving the African Union (AU).
Earlier, on March 6th, the Egyptian President visited Sudan for talks on the dam. He warned Ethiopia against filling the dam completely.
Ethiopia, which says it has every right to use Nile waters started filling the reservoir behind the dam last year after Egypt and Sudan failed to secure a legally binding agreement over the hydropower dam’s operation.
El-Sisi said that Egypt and Sudan have agreed on the importance of relaunching “serious and effective” negotiations that aim at achieving a “fair, balanced and legally binding” agreement on the dam’s filling and operating.
The two countries also reject attempts by Ethiopia to “impose a fait accompli and control the Blue Nile through unilateral measures that do not take into account the interests and rights of the two downstream countries,” he said.
It is likely that if the situation deteriorates, and if it comes down to an armed conflict, Ethiopia is in a very precarious situation, since it still can’t recover from the instability in its Tigray region. Even without the Tigray region’s instability, Addis Ababa is unlikely to stand any chance against Egypt’s military might.
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Yeah expect the Ameriswine to come in and next thing we have ‘rebels’ in Egypt or Sudan.
That is some wild fantasy. What would make you think the Americans will intervene in anything after what happened in Afghanistan
Egypt is 97% dependent on Nile river for drinking water and irrigation. Don’t worry, Russian presence in Sudan is enough to snuff out any plan by US to cause problems in the area.
Funnily enough it was lack of water in the wheat growing season for a decade or more during the reign of Queen Cleopatra that caused the demise of Egypt before the birth of ‘Christ’.
Decades of strife,starvation, disease and discord were the result. Back then it was climate disaster bought about by volcanoes erupting near the North Pole.
Today it is due to a deliberate act. The positive thing, is that what man builds can always be demolished.
Nile used to overflow and both sides of the river were very fertile for agriculture, the construction of canals took weather further inland increasing agricultural productivity.
Stupidity most likely :)
Now that the Americans have managed to put their own man to the presidency in Kenya we could attend a new war, chaos and war are the style of the cursed Yankee, put around a table and listening to everyone’s reasons is the best way, but for Do this you must first drive out the Yankee.
Time for a missile 🚀
A Chinese missile :)
Do you support Arabs over nigs?
Arabs have a long history of science , maths and the development of written languages etc. Particularly in antiquity.
Negroes do not appear to have very much history of learning
Both groups have been targets for what lies underneath their homelands.
Egypt havent been able to defeat ISIS and a fight with Ethiopia is not benefit for the world economy and especially if it affect transportation of good trought Suez canal. The world powers need to bring a solution to this issues before it get out of control. Egypt have been gearing up and those two vessel they purchase from France can give Egypt thr mean to bring the war to Ethiopia shores
Ethiopians are tough fighters, they defeated dozens of Arabic/Islamist and European colonialist invasions for centuries in their 3000 year history! Also their very mountinous country served as a natural fortress for Ethiopians during those invasions.
Ethiopia needs the dam to generate electricity to bring millions into the 21st Century … hello?
Nothing’s going to stop it …
Make a deal and get on with it …