Waterfalls on the Blue Nile. Ethiopia has plans to grab hold of a bigger share of the river despite Egypt’s long held monopoly. Photo retrieved from: www.greenprophet.com
“Defiant of Egypt’s historic monopoly over its flow, Ethiopia is pushing ahead with a controversial plan to build a massive dam on the Nile river. Egypt and Sudan have maintained control of the Nile through a series of laws originally brokered by colonial powers in 1929.
But last May, six upstream countries signed a legally binding document that dispossessed Egypt of its right to veto decisions regarding the Nile’s distribution. Buoyed by President Hosni Mubarak’s recent ouster, and undaunted by criticism, Ethiopia insists that it will proceed with its plan even without international support.
At a recent news conference, Ethiopia’s Water and Energy Minister Alemayehu Tegenu explained that construction of the dam near the Ethiopian and Sudanese border is expected to start soon, Reutersreports.
This despite widespread opposition to the project, which Minister Tegenu suspects is a direct result of Egypt’s campaign to prevent the dam’s construction.
But Mr. Tegunu is adamant that Ethiopia will proceed with the $4.78 billion dollar project even without donor support. In order to finance the project, they will sell off government bonds.
At present, Ethiopia uses 1% of its annual 86% contribution of Nile water, while Egypt has access to 55 out of the river’s 84 billion cubic meter annual flow. Last year, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi signed an agreement to re-apportion the Nile, an agreement Egypt refuses to acknowledge.
The Nile Dam is expected to generate 5,250MW of hydroelectricity after its completion in approximately 44 months, contributing more than a third to the country’s $12 billion plan to generate 15,000 MW within the next 25 years.”
Read more: Green Prophet
Goal one of the MDG is eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. In this vein It is a question of human rights and social justice to help the people of Ethiopia utilize their resources to be free from extreme poverty and famine. The Blue Nile Starts from Northern Ethiopia where there is usually drought and famine; The river takes not only the water but the soil too, hence north Ethiopia is eroded. The people of Ethiopia in that region suffer since the 1970s with repetitive drought and famine. The notion that Egypt and the Sudan are the sole proprietors is unjust given that Ethiopia contributes 86% and utilizes only 1% currently while in extreme need. At the age of global warming and environmental change countries should use diplomacy to work a deal to use resources fairly and the UN should be instrumental in that. Human lives everywhere should be valued equally. In that spirit countries who try to stop the building of the dam should revise their stand .