Wanted: Sustainable use of resources in the Nile basin

BY EDITOR

7th January 2016.

At the end of December last year Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan signed an agreement finalising two firms tasked with carrying out studies on the potential impact of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam on the flow of the Nile.

 

Tanzania now becomes the third country to ratify the agreement on the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework (CFA) after Rwanda and Ethiopia.

 

In March, last year the National Assembly unanimously endorsed  the agreement that among other things, each basin state is entitled to an equitable and reasonable share in the beneficial uses of the water resources of the Nile River system.

 

The agreement also provides for equal rights for all member states on the use of River Nile waters.

 

Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan-have drafted the agreement to ensure optimal and sustainable use of the water resources.

 

It is no doubt that the agreement will establish a special tool of cooperation in the member countries which will coordinate and manage equal rights and sustainable use of water resources in the basin.The origin of the agreement is the existing contract which gives more authority to Egypt and Sudan to spend 87 per cent of the River Nile waters.  Currently Tanzania owns 3.37 per cent of the waters although it contributes 28 per cent of the waters from Lake Victoria which is the main source of water to the Nile basin. 

 

Other states with percentage share in brackets are Rwanda (0.65 per cent), Burundi (0.44), DRC (0.69), Egypt (9.52), Ethiopia (11.5), Eritrea (0.81), Kenya (1.62), South Sudan (19.54) and Uganda (7.56).

 

Given the data there is no doubt that Tanzania will now increase uses of Lake Victoria water from the current 0.1 per cent to a reasonable amount.  Tanzania  contributes about 28  per cent of water in Lake Victoria, which is the main source of all water to Nile River and its basin. In Other words, the ratification will replace the two widely disputed colonial era pacts deemed unfair by seven NBI members of Tanzania, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.

 

A 1929 pact between Egypt and Britain gives Egypt veto power over upstream projects as well as access to most of the Nile waters. Further still, a 1959 pact between Egypt and Sudan, allowed the two countries 55.5 and 18.5 billion cubic metres of water, respectively, every year.  However, Tanzania, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda maintain that these past treaties are unfair and they want a reasonable water-sharing pact that  allows for more irrigation and power projects.

 

Cairo and Addis Ababa had previously been locked in a bitter war of words over Ethiopia's $4 billion project.

 

But in March, the leaders of the three countries signed a co-operation deal in Khartoum that paved the way for a joint approach to regional water supplies.

 

It is our believe that only dialogue and consensus on issues of mutual interest is the best approach to strengthen cooperation among the Nile Basin member states with guaranteed sustainable use of the Nile River resources and its  immense resource potential of the Nile River Basin can best be utilised through mutual understanding for the benefit of the population in the region.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN