The mega dam in Jinja was meant to give Uganda energy independence, but this was constrained by Britain’s agricultural interests in Egypt.
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (centre) is hosted in Cairo by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in June, 2022.
Egyptian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Communicating scientific findings is a potential route to reach common ground and avoid political tensions in the Nile region
Supporters of Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice opposition party rally at Maskel Square in Addis Ababa, on June 16, 2021.
Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
A new government with popular legitimacy will have power to address lingering political, economic and security challenges.
Ethiopian protestors march down 42nd Street in New York during a “It’s my Dam” protest on March 11, 2021.
Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
It won’t be easy to get the 11 countries in the basin to agree to a plan that avoids chronic water shortages in the future. Good information sharing and technical cooperation are critical.
Workey Tadele, a radio operator, at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near Guba in Ethiopia in December 2019.
Eduardo Soteras/AFP via Getty Images
America has historically been a strong Ethiopia ally, but this latest move to withhold foreign direct assistance has thrown its loyalty into question.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 145-metre-high, 1.8-kilometre-long concrete colossus is set to become the largest hydropower plant in Africa.
(Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images)
Egypt wants a guarantee that the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam will not affect the rights it got in 1959.
Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Seleshi Bekele (C) attends a meeting with his Egyptian and Sudanese counterparts, in Khartoum, Sudan, 21 December 2019.
EPA-EFE/MARWAN ALI
The Nile Treaties prevent upstream countries from using the waters of the Nile without the consent of those downstream. This results in an Egyptian bias.
Instead of allocating the Nile waters based on a fixed, perpetual water supply Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt must consider changes in weather patterns, among other factors.
Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam, which is under construction, is a source of anger for Egypt.
EPA-EFE/STR
The leaders of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have shown some commitment to sharing the waters of the Nile. But hard negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam are only beginning.
Postdoctoral Associate at Department of Earth & Environment, and Southeast Environment Research Center of the Institute of Water and Environment, Florida International University