The new air of optimism concerning cooperation among Nile Basin countries is set to mark a definite break with the tempestuous past, writes Gamal Nkrumah Last week's Alexandria ministerial meeting of Nile Basin countries renewed hopes for a water-sharing pact that will satisfy both upstream and downstream riparian nations. The meeting also highlighted the vital importance of cementing riparian nations' political and economic ties through the framework of the Nile Basin Initiative. Tensions between riparian states may be weeks from final resolution. The countries concerned are determined that the final spasms may not be drawn out. The architect of the proposed new treaty, the Democratic Republic of Congo's Minister of Water Affairs Jose Endundo, is a shrewd man. Congo, for starters, is peripheral as far as the Nile Basin is concerned. As the name of the country implies, the Democratic Republic is more immediately concerned with the Congo River Basin. However, this marginality lends the country a particular impartiality that makes it the ideal conjurer of unprejudiced concepts regarding new Nile water treaties. As chairman of the Nile Council of Ministers (NCM) when he drafted the proposal, Endundo strove to overcome the impasse that has paralysed progress. Endundo's proposal, submitted in May, was not received with enthusiasm by downstream countries -- Egypt and Sudan. The specific stumbling block concerned Article 14B. Today, Egypt and not Congo holds the chairing position of the NCM. Cairo, of course, cannot dictate terms to the nine other Nile Basin nations. However, even its critics concur that Egypt is a political heavyweight as far as African politics is concerned. Historically, Egypt is a key country in the continent and most African countries are keen to cultivate closer ties with Cairo. Egypt is reluctant to change radically the import of the 1929 and 1959 treaties. The 1929 treaty was signed between Egypt and Britain, representing its African colonies. African countries resent the fact that the treaty that to this day ordains the manner in which Nile waters are divided, was signed on their behalf by a colonial power. Another agreement signed in 1959 between Egypt and the then newly independent Sudan, permits Egypt the exclusive use of 55.5 billion cubic metres -- or 87 per cent of the Nile flow, with Sudan enjoying the exploitation of 18.5 cubic metres of Nile water. Obviously, as far as upstream African countries are concerned, these treaties are outdated and untenable. The issue at stake at the moment is that the water of the 5,584km long river, the world's longest, needs to be divided up more equitably. The old treaties gave Egypt veto powers over upstream projects and this, too, is a bone of contention between Egypt and the upstream African countries south of the Sahara. It is in this context that the three-point proposal by the Congolese chair of the NCM in May was received with much anticipation in sub-Saharan African capitals and with grave reservations in Cairo and Khartoum. There were changes afoot. Egypt's former water resources minister Mahmoud Abu Zeid was regarded as too soft on the matter of vital national interest, labelled a "weak negotiator", and was promptly replaced by the current Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Nasreddin Allam. Allam proposed several key changes. First and foremost, he stressed closer cooperation among Nile Basin nations. He also pointed out that a legal and institutional framework that protects the rights of all countries must govern such cooperation. He also said that differences should be ironed out by peaceful means. "Egypt will not forfeit its historical rights to Nile water," the minister warned, however. He likewise noted that Egypt had no intention whatsoever of withdrawing from the NCM. For their part, the Ethiopians stressed that they have no formal cooperation with Israel over the exploitation of the Blue Nile waters and they denied that Israel is involved in the construction of dams in Ethiopia. "We accepted the new Egyptian minister's offer," explained Ethiopia's Minister of Water Resources Asfaw Dingamo. He did, however, concede that Ethiopia is studying proposals to construct dams and that feasibility studies are underway. The Ethiopian media is rife with commentary, reports and analyses of the refusal of Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi to sell Ethiopian rights over Nile waters. While acceding to Egypt's "historical rights" to Nile water, the Ethiopian media warns that there is a need for a new water-sharing pact that safeguards the interests of upper riparian states of the Nile, including Ethiopia. There was also a hint of disapproval of what is widely seen as Egypt's "monopoly over Nile water" and some commentators even suggested that upper riparian states file lawsuits against Egypt, a notion that was vehemently rejected at the official level. Ethiopia, which provides 85 per cent of the Nile water utilised by Egypt, suffers from periodic droughts that lead to devastating famines. Ethiopia also experiences regular power cuts that curtail the country's capacity for industrialisation. Asfaw pleaded with Egypt to "lighten gloomy negotiations". Uganda's Minister of Water Maria Mutagamba and Uganda's state minister for water Jennifer Namuyango both of whom had attended the Alexandria ministerial water conference of Nile Basin nations, concurred with the Ethiopians that the atmosphere of negotiating new deals over the exploitation of Nile waters be eased. They both denied that Egypt has deliberately been blocking a Nile waters deal, but hoped that tensions between upstream and downstream Nile Basin nations will be eased through diplomatic channels.
