What Would the Nile River Say? The GERD: Approaching the Basin (Part III) | ZeHabesha

Feb 18, 2021 | Amanuel T. Muhzun
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The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has had a large international focus with reports about its advantages and disadvantages. In fact, the Project is quite big and is located in the highly sensitive watershed of the Nile Basin. This writer find it helpful to mention the many international efforts made in seeking mediation concerning the water dispute between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.

According to the Egyptian Al-Ahram online News and the Global Construction Review (GCR), the Arab League met in Cairo on October 12, 2019 and expressed its extreme concern in support of Egypt’s position over Ethiopia’s mega dam on the Blue Nile River. Soon after, the Arab League sent a letter to the Government of Ethiopia to announce its position in favour of Egypt. Furthermore, the Arab League had warned Ethiopia on 23 June 2020 not to start dam filling before agreement is reached with the downstream.

The Nile issue influences the Middle East including Israel. It is not uncommon to say that some middle-east states glance over the Nile freshwaters because the Nile is the only potential river across Northeast Africa and the Middle-East. Although the Nile is causing consistent geopolitical pressure on Ethiopia, there is growing economic relations in trade and investments between Arab countries in the Middle East and Ethiopia. There are hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians and Eritreans who work for a living in the wealthy Arab states and Israel. At this juncture, the Arab League ought to play a sort of intermediary role in the GERD/Nile issue as not to let down Ethiopia by any possible means.