By: Staff Editor
The Nile River, the longest river in the world, originates in Ethiopia, crosses the borders of eleven countries, and flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The fact that Ethiopia is the source of 85 percent of the river's water strengthens its bond with us Ethiopians.
According to official data in 2020, 550 million people live in the Nile Basin countries; This number is expected to reach 1.44 billion by 2051. The river’s water is used for drinking, aquaculture, irrigation, transportation and electricity generation. The potential for the tourism industry is also vast.
As co-owners, the peoples of the riparian countries have long demanded the equitable use of this common resource. Their demands have remained unanswered until recently due to unjust colonial agreements. This has resulted in most riparian countries becoming passive spectators of the river’s water.
The first of the unjust and colonial agreements was made in 1929 with Britain, which had previously ruled Egypt and Sudan. The agreement allocated 48 billion cubic meters of the Nile’s water to Egypt and 4 billion cubic meters to Sudan.
Following Sudan’s independence in 1959, the two countries revised their agreement to increase their share of the Nile River. Under this post-colonial agreement, Egypt’s share of the Nile River increased to 55.5 billion cubic meters. Sudan’s share increased to 18.5 billion cubic meters.
The agreements; granted the Nile River to the two countries and made the other riparian countries passive observers; the agreements created a situation where other countries sought to develop the Nile River and were considered to have a measure of the impact of their projects. This has exacerbated the inequity surrounding the use of the river’s water.
This has posed a challenge to the upstream countries, including Ethiopia, which contributes 85 percent of the river’s water, to ensure that they do not receive fair use of the river’s water. The international community has been putting pressure on the agreement to change this injustice.
The Nile Basin Cooperation and Utilization Framework was initiated by Ethiopia in 1997 to change this injustice. After nearly three decades of drafting, negotiation and ratification, it entered into force on October 3rd, 2017.
The agreement; established the principles of cooperation, equitable sharing and mutual respect among the riparian countries; and created an opportunity for the riparian countries to jointly use, protect, conserve and manage the Nile waters while preserving their sovereignty and territorial integrity.
This has brought to an end previous unjust agreements that were a reflection of colonialism. It will create lasting trust among the peoples of the riparian countries by responding appropriately to the demands that the peoples of the riparian countries have been raising for years to ensure equitable use of the Nile River.
By changing the previously unjust use of the Nile River; it has ensured the right to fair and equitable use of the water; it has changed the exclusive use of water resources that was reflected in the lower riparian countries (Egypt and Sudan) to fair and equitable use; it is a great diplomatic achievement of our country.
As we consider the 19th Nile Day, we raise our voices for equitable and fair use of the Nile Waters.