The Hydropolitical Assessment of the Nile Question: An Ethiopian Perspective

Abstract

This paper discusses the existing hydropolitcal positions of the Nile riparian states from an Ethiopian perspective. It argues that Egyptian protectionist water security policy coupled with Sudan's hydropolitical dilemma, Ethiopia's grievances, and the complacency of White Nile riparian states to water redistribution have blocked the major venues to the formation of a multilateral agreement that would be acceptable to all the stakeholders. The formation of Nile-based organizations in the past thirty years has also failed to make a breakthrough because it failed to address the vital question of the fair and equitable distribution of the Nile waters. Some recent developments in this direction, particularly the formation of the Nile Basin Initiative in 1999, indicate some glimmer of hope in the basin. The author of this paper argues that an effective basin-wide organization could be implemented if and only if the outstanding problem of water redistribution is solved. The paper has, by way of conclusion, proposed some win-win solutions that could pave the way for ending the stalemate. These include, among others, the revision and re-negotiation of the 1959 bilateral treaty between Egypt and the Sudan to accommodate the natural rights of the other riparian states, the import of “virtual water,” the transfer of all or some of the Nile storage upstream to minimize evapotranspiration and the application of drip irrigation to save water.

Keywords:

• Equitable sharing
• food security
• virtual water
• water security
• win-win solutions
• zero-sum game