Ethiopia announced this week that it has already built a mega dam on the Nile River, which it hopes will provide it with much-needed electricity. However, the giant facility is a source of tension with neighboring countries in a water-poor region, especially with Egypt, writes BTA.
One tributary of the longest river on Earth (6,695 kilometers) - the White Nile, originates in South Sudan, and the other - the Blue Nile, on which the giant hydroelectric power plant was built - from Ethiopia.
The dam "is now complete" and will be officially inaugurated in September, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on Thursday, quoted by Agence France-Presse.
The "Renaissance" dam, whose construction began in 2011, is being billed as the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa. The impressive practical dimension of the $4 billion project is the dam wall, stretching 1.8 kilometers and 145 meters high.
Declaring the dam ready before the Ethiopian parliament, the prime minister addressed neighboring countries downstream of the Nile - Sudan and Egypt, with a "clear message": "The "Renaissance" dam represents not a threat, but a shared opportunity." The electricity that will be produced will contribute to the economic growth not only of Ethiopia but also of the entire region, he argued.
Abiy Ahmed, who has been in power since 2018, assured that "the Aswan Dam, in Egypt, has not lost a single liter of water because of (the massive project)". Our development will not be "to the detriment of our Sudanese and Egyptian brothers and sisters", he added.
EGYPT'S CONCERNS
However, Egypt was quick to firmly reject Ethiopia's "unilateral actions", the newspaper reported. "Al Ahram".
At a meeting of ambassadors in the presence of Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelati, his counterpart for water resources, Hani Seweilam, described Addis Ababa's behavior as a violation of international law, and in particular the rules on the fair and equitable use of international waterways and the prohibition of causing harm to neighboring countries. The inability to reach a legally binding agreement for more than three decades shows Ethiopia's lack of political will, he stressed.
Egypt fears that the dam will have a devastating effect on water supply and irrigation downstream unless Ethiopia takes its needs into account, the Associated Press notes.
Addis Ababa began construction of the dam in 2011, causing serious tensions with Cairo and Khartoum. Egypt and Sudan have insisted that the commissioning of the facility be preceded by a legally binding agreement to guarantee their water security.
In October, a group of Nile countries, including Ethiopia, announced, quoted by the AP, that a treaty for the equitable distribution of water resources from the Nile River basin had entered into force despite serious resistance from Egypt, as well as neighboring Sudan. The agency predicts that as a result, this agreement will also cause disputes, especially since it is not recognized by Cairo.
In addition, a clause in the treaty states that the Nile basin countries "use the water resources of the (river) system in their respective territories in a fair and reasonable manner" - a rather general and ambiguous formulation.
KEY TO ETHIOPIA'S DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
However, Ethiopia sees the dam as a key project for its development. When completed, the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa is expected to generate a total of 5,000 megawatts of electricity with 13 turbines, providing electricity to about 65 million people - half of the country's population in the eastern part of the continent. Ethiopia has repeatedly stated that it is correcting unfair decisions from the past, when agreements were concluded without its participation, summarizes "Al Ahram".
The second most populous country in Africa, which is also the most populous landlocked country in the world, is experiencing rapid demographic growth, which in turn leads to an increase in electricity needs. About 60 million Ethiopians do not have electricity at home, mainly due to a lack of electricity transmission networks, according to World Bank data from January this year.
Located 30 kilometers from the border with Sudan, the dam will generate 5,000 megawatts - twice as much electricity as Ethiopia's current production capacity, AFP notes.
An undoubtedly impressive number that shows why the project is so important to Addis Ababa.
Incidentally, also this week, the International Monetary Fund's executive board approved a third review of the credit program for Ethiopia, totaling $3.4 billion, Reuters reported.
As a result, Addis Ababa has secured access to $262.3 million at a time when the East African country continues to negotiate a restructuring of its debt.
The development is a reminder of the serious obstacles Ethiopia faces and highlights the need to ensure abundant and cheap electricity for its development.
REGIONAL TENSION
The Ethiopian prime minister called on "the governments and peoples of Egypt, Sudan and all Nile basin countries to join us" at the opening ceremony "to celebrate this historic milestone".
Egypt, which gets 97% of its water needs, mostly for agriculture, from the river, sees the Ethiopian dam as an "existential threat". He is referring to his "historical right" to the Nile.
Egypt and Sudan have asked Ethiopia to stop filling the dam until a tripartite agreement is concluded to regulate the conditions for the facility's operation. Several attempts at mediation by various countries have failed in recent years, recalls Agence France-Presse.
Experts comment that as a result, an anti-Ethiopian bloc is forming around Egypt. In October, a summit was held with the participation of Somalia and Eritrea, which is a historical enemy of Ethiopia, from which it separated after a war at the end of the last century.
A tripartite agreement was concluded at the meeting in the field of security. It marked the emergence of a new alliance in the Horn of Africa, a troubled region in the northeast of the continent strategically located near Saudi Arabia and Yemen, which are located across the Red Sea.
The agreement has clearly deepened Ethiopia's isolation and increased the risks of conflict, analysts quoted by AFP warned.
Eventually, things calmed down somewhat with the reconciliation between Ethiopia and Somalia late last year.
Overall, war in the Horn of Africa remains highly unlikely. Mostly because it would not be in the interest of any country in the region.