PRESIDENT Mohamed Morsi's visit to Addis Ababa to celebrate the African Union's golden jubilee should be well used to enhance co-operation between Egypt and the 54 AU member states, especially Ethiopia. Under Mubarak, the Egyptian-African relations suffered a real setback, when compared to the golden era of Nasser's co-operation with the black continent. Thanks to Egypt's long absence from the different African files, foreign interference in the continent has risen noticeably, resulting in the division of Sudan into two states, the eruption of civil wars in many African countries and finally the signing of Entebbe agreement that threatens Egypt's share of the River Nile. The Co-operative Framework Agreement was signed in May 2010 by the five upstream states of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, with the purpose of fairly distributing the water of the river between the various Nile Basin Countries. It coincided with Ethiopia's announcement that it would create the Nahda (Renaissance) Dam on the Blue Nile, that provides around 98 per cent of Egypt's water. Apparently, the Egyptians sensed a plot against its national water security behind this agreement and the proposed Dam, especially as Israeli companies have begun to make their presence felt in Africa, especially Ethiopia, offering financial and technical support for building the Dam. Egypt's immediate reaction was to vigorously oppose the agreement and insist on preserving Egypt's historic right to the water of the Nile. However, Cairo used to have poor relations with the other African countries, hindering progress in the possibility of reaching a co-operation agreement which would ensure African countries' right to create development projects without affecting Egypt and Sudan's Nile quota. The January 25 Revolution has helped boost Egyptian-African relations, promoting relations and opening the way for reaching a settlement over the disputed agreement. Late Ethiopian Premier Meles Zenawi approved the creation of a tripartite committee between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt to debate the effects of the Dam on the downstream countries before its construction. But Addis Ababa then announced that it would press ahead with the first stage of the construction of the Dam, even before the committee presents the results of its study, due at the end of this month. Cairo should clear express its reservations to the project to the international community, as well as Ethiopian officials, some of whom have started talking about their right to 'sell' Egypt its quota of the river water after creating the Renaissance Dam. Morsi's administration should not close its eyes to the crisis or claim that it will not affect Egypt's quota, especially as Burundi and South Sudan have signed the agreement.
