Ethiopia Offers Olive Branch in Nile Water Sharing Dispute
Photo: Reuters
This is Part 5 of a 5-part series: Sharing the Nile's Waters
Parts 1 / 2 / 3 /4 / 5
Ethiopia
is offering Egypt and Sudan an olive branch in their bitter dispute
over sharing the waters of the Nile River. The offer includes possible
joint ownership of a huge Ethiopian hydropower project that Egypt has
tried to block.
Ethiopia�s Prime Minister Meles Zenawi launched a furious attack Friday
on powerful interests seeking to prevent construction of a
5,200-megawatt dam on the Blue Nile, in the highlands along the Sudanese
border.
Meles says the massive project would allow Ethiopia to earn precious
foreign exchange from electricity exports. But traditional funding
sources have dried up, largely due to opposition from environmentalists,
as well as from Egypt, which depends almost totally on the Nile for its
water supply.
Speaking to the opening session of an international hydropower
conference, Meles vowed the $4.8-billion project would go ahead, even if
impoverished Ethiopia has to pay the tab itself.
�We are so convinced of the justice of our cause, so sure of the
strength of our arguments, so convinced of the role of our hydropower
projects in eliminating poverty in our country that we will use every
ounce of our strength, every dime of money that we can save to complete
our program,� Meles said.
The Ethiopian leader blasted donors and lending agencies that have
withheld support for the project, calling their action unjust.
�We need the support of all our partners to build the dam as our savings
are inadequate,� Meles added. �If our partners are deterred from doing
so because of the noisy campaign of environmental extremists and some
politicians with old-fashioned ideas, they will in effect be condemning
millions of Africans to poverty. That cannot be just. That cannot be
fair.�
In comments to reporters after his speech, the Ethiopian leader held out
hope that the post-Mubarak administration in Cairo might soften Egypt�s
longstanding opposition to upstream use of Nile water.
�I am still hopeful that the current government in Egypt will recognize
that this project has nothing but benefits to Egypt,� said Meles.
�Nothing. I believe the Sudanese understand this has nothing but
benefits to them.�
Meles said a change of heart by Cairo�s new leaders could open the way
for cooperative agreements, including a deal that would give Egypt
partial ownership of the dam.
�If there is a reconsideration, there will be time to consider many
issues, including possibly joint ownership of the project itself. We are
open to such ideas," said Meles.
Egypt�s ambassador to Ethiopia Tariq Ghuneim told VOA his country is
open to negotiations to reach an amicable solution to the Nile water
dispute. He said he could not comment on Meles�s proposal because he had
not seen details, but said any agreement would be a �win-win� for all.
Ethiopian officials were vague on when construction of the so-called
Great Millennium Dam would begin, saying only it would be �soon�, and
would be completed in less than four years from the start date. They say
it would create a reservoir of water twice as large as Lake Tana,
landlocked Ethiopia�s largest body of water, but would not displace any
people because it would be contained in the existing river gorge.
The Horn of Africa nation is hoping to increase its electricity
generation capacity to 15,000 megawatts within 10 years. The World Bank
says Ethiopia has the second greatest hydropower potential in Africa,
after the Democratic Republic of Congo.