Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan and the Matter of River Nile Water

Mar 5, 2023 | Tirusew Asefa
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Every roadblock in the tripartite negotiation between Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sudan leads to one issue: Nile water use allocation. As it stands, both Egypt and Sudan are insisting on a “binding agreement” before Ethiopia starts the second year of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) filling at 13.5 BCM this summer. This filling is part of the GERD construction that was agreed upon by the three countries making it almost impossible not to hold water because of its link with construction of the central block of the dam.

Framing the solution for all water shortage in Egypt to surface water coming from Ethiopian highlands misses what water resources managers could do to manage extremes droughts, specifically conjunctive water use. The message is that there is more to gain by all three countries through cooperation than concentrating on a single country’s benefit.A starter will be acknowledging the share and the right of utilization of the Nile water by both upper and lower riparian basin countries.