Water is not the problem. A lack of goodwill and the underutilisation of agricultural cooperation are, remarks Gamal Nkrumah It was a reminder of a personal, distant temps perdu. Below the horizon, the Nile beckoned sparkling with the inviting nightlights. We dined in the Revolving Restaurant, the Grand Hyatt, Garden City. The entire city lay before us with the black Nile snaking through the concrete jungle. He lovingly took it all in. Kenya's charismatic Prime Minister Raila Odinga sat to my left, Egyptian Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza to my right, Odinga's dazzling daughter Rosemary across the table. Odinga looked remarkably like his legendary father Oginga Odinga, my father's contemporary and fellow pan-Africanist. It was a meeting of minds, a recapitulation of our common childhood links with Cairo through our illustrious forebears. His father's sojourn was crucial to Raila's presence in Cairo today. "I lived here for many years in the 1950s and 1960s. I had an Egyptian passport. This trip evokes fond memories," he was resplendent in his revolutionary red shirt. "This is my first visit to Egypt as prime minister," he said with not a passing comment about the controversial matter now creating unseemingly ripples between Egypt and the upstream Nile Basin Initiative nations that recently signed an agreement on management of the Nile waters, in the face of Egypt's grave reservations. In this cordial repast, there was no hint of standoff between the Nile nations. It was something of a surprise to see the agricultural minister as opposed to the irrigation minister playing host to Odinga under the circumstances. But that gives a clue to the nature of the compromise that Egypt is hoping to effect. The pressure on the riparian nations is to focus on agricultural development and trade, and to do so in a mutually agreeable fashion. Bickering over water rights and allotment will do no one no good. The new agreement, the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework is to replace the 1959 accord between Egypt and Sudan, itself a revised version of the anachronistic colonial treaty between Egypt and its British imperial taskmaster, ostensibly on behalf of its upstream African colonies, signed in 1929. With climate change and seasonal rains becoming ever increasingly erratic, upstream African nations are now determined to put behind them their obsolete colonial legacy. It is in this context that farsighted Egyptian policymakers are looking at new opportunities to develop agribusiness in conjunction with the countries that control the sources of Egypt's lifeline. "I have visited Ethiopia seven times since assuming office," boasted Abaza. "I'm a frequent visitor to Sudan, Uganda and other countries of the Great Lakes region of East Africa." Kenya, Abaza noted, is the single most important supplier of tea to Egypt. Kenya is also one of the key coffee exporters to the country. Abaza explained Egypt's predicament in a succinct and concise manner to the visiting Kenyan dignitary. "Egypt is a country the size of France and Germany combined and yet our population of 82 million is crammed in an area barely the size of Denmark. Imagine," Abaza pointedly addressed Odinga, "what the case will be in 2050 with an estimated 140 million." "Precisely," Odinga countered. "We in Kenya have different ecological zones, from rich volcanic soils in the Highlands to the savannas of the Rift Valley and the arid deserts on the borders of Ethiopia and Somalia, and mangrove swamplands on the coast. We have four seasons, long rains, dry spell, short rains and another dry spell. We cannot feed our 40 million people and that is why we have constructed more than 20 dams and we intend on constructing more. We are trying to find ways to cope with dual tragedies of floods and famines. We need Egypt to understand our predicament and to stand by us as it has since the days of our struggle against British colonialism." His eyes are fixed on Abaza, as if demanding he understand. "Egypt's contribution to our struggle for independence was invaluable. My childhood experience in Cairo, my life in exile in this wonderful city, has left me with fond memories of my friends and mentors at the African Society, 5 Ahmed Hishmat Street, Zamalek. We will not permit any foreign interference to harm Egypt," said Odinga alluding to Israeli machinations in the region. The Kenyan prime minister received a standing ovation two days later at this historic venue. Odinga and Abaza compared notes: Kenyan Airways and EgyptAir, two leading African carriers, are both in the Star Alliance, and the ministers discussed ways of boosting air traffic, veering momentarily from the underlying purpose of the meeting. A telling anecdote, revealing the two solitudes of the vital African neighbours, as we finished our dinner was the generous offer by the agriculture minister to weed out the hyacinth from Lake Victoria, considered by many a poisonous weed. His offer was politely declined by Odinga, who explained that the hyacinth is highly valued by Lake Victoria fishermen as a breeding ground for fish, especially the prized Nile perch. Egypt is playing host to a stream of Nile Basin presidents -- even as Abaza feted Odinga, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, was deliberating with President Hosni Mubarak who is expected to receive Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza shortly. Burundi and the DRC, unlike Kenya, have not signed the controversial new accord. But even key upstream countries like Ethiopia, which provides Egypt with 85 per cent of its water, are using conciliatory language these days. "The way forward is to seek a win-win solution through diplomatic efforts," said Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in an interview on the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera. Zenawi's tone barely hid a veiled threat. He urged Egyptian policymakers to shed "old-fashion ideas". In justifying the planned construction of more than 35 dams in the near future, he explained that "We are being forced to beg for food every year while we have such an abundance of water resources. Ethiopia is poor, but it is able to cover the necessary costs to construct whatever infrastructure it wishes to on the Nile." There are clearly differences underlying such tough talk. Egypt has its own role to play in finding some accommodation. "The Egyptian political and diplomatic corps unfortunately still perceives Africa from the archaic perspective of the colonial era with an air of superiority," said Nabil Abdel-Fattah, director of Al-Ahram Centre for Historical Studies. "What is occurring at present is the result of Egypt abandoning its role in Africa," concurred Amr Elshobaki from Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. This ties perfectly with what Odinga stressed during his visit to Cairo -- to renew the "positive historic relations" between Egypt and Nile Basin nations.
