The water crisis in the Nile Basin countries has shed light on various loopholes in Egypt's decades-long ties with Africa. While some analysts believe the recent furore over sharing the Nile water has been fomented by foreign powers, aiming to destabilise Egypt, others argue that the crisis is self-incurred, blaming the country's consecutive governments of neglect. "The problem is a result of an identity disorder, weakness of perception and a lack of political will. We speak about our role in Africa as if we were Britain or France. We are part of Africa," el-Sayed Fleifel, the ex-dean of the Cairo-based African Studies Institute, told a forum organised by the Press Syndicate in Cairo this week. "The deficiency comes from how the Egyptian Government runs this country. There are people who drink sewage water, while golf courses are submerged with clean potable water," Fleifel told the gathering. "We must focus on Africa not for water, but because this is our role," Fleifel said. "Before the July Revolution in 1952, Egypt focused on Africa. In the 1950s and 1960s, we helped liberation movements in colonised African countries. Late president Gamal Abdel Nasser, for example, sent chairman of El-Nasr Company for Imports and Exports to meet with president of Cote d'Ivoire at that time when he knew France would buy cocoa at lower than world prices. France raised the price after the meeting. That was the role of Egypt," he explained. "International pacts are obligatory, but politics are by nature evasive. Full implementation is what really counts," he said. "Egypt launched the Nile Basin Initiative more than 10 years ago, and nothing has been achieved yet. We talk about our leading role. However, we act belatedly," he said. "There should be multi-party action to get to Africa. There are many ways to boost ties with Africa. Arab-African co-operation, the African Union and COMESA may be a good start." he said. COMESA stands for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. "There should be real development in Egypt through creating new hubs for agriculture in the Western Desert and Sinai. It's rather impossible for more than 80 million people to live on a narrow valley around the Nile," he said. "Co-operation with the Nile Basin countries has great potential in power-generating plants, tapping Africa's water resources," he added. Due to its untapped resources, Africa has become in the focus of many countries. China, for instance, pledged last November to give Africa $10 billion in loans. From 2003 until 2008, Chinese direct investment in Africa has soared, from $491 million to $7.8 billion, according to official Chinese figures. Over the past 30 years, Egyptian governments have been focusing on boosting economic and political ties with Europe, the US, and other advanced countries, without paying any attention to Africa, analysts argue. "How many lines about Ethiopia are there in educational syllabuses? Al-Ahram daily newspaper quoted an Ethiopian minister as saying that Egypt is turning a deaf ear to the water issue," said Helmy Shaarawy, an expert on African affairs. "Most of the water projects in Ethiopia are financed by the US, China, Italy and the Netherlands. All of these countries are our friends. So, why don't we approach them to sort things out with Ethiopia?" Shaarawy wondered. "We should move fast and tackle water as 'holy' as borders. There should be a focus on integrated development in the Nile Basin countries. The language should be changed. We shouldn't make any threats of war over water," Shaarawy said, referring to late president Anwar el-Sadat when he threatened Ethiopia in 1979. Sadat said: "The only matter that will take Egypt to war is water." Sadat's remark was a reaction to Ethiopia's former ruler Mengistu Haile Mariam who had threatened to reduce the Blue Nile's flows if Egypt transferred water to Sinai. Sadat made it clear: "If Ethiopia takes any action to block our right to the Nile water, there will be no alternative for us but to use force." "The Nile Basin countries think water pacts are unfair. Of course, there's an external role that cannot be overruled. It's not a coincidence that the World Bank is financing projects we fear they may affect Egypt's water share," Mohamed el-Tahtawy, a member of Egypt's Foreign Affairs Council, said. "Diplomacy is a political tool. If there's no political will, diplomacy fails," el-Tahtawy argued. "The problem is that we feel conceited with no good reason. What good is sending experts to African countries, where they don't do anything? What good is giving meagre aid that won't accomplish anything?" he said. "Economic co-operation and joint investment in Africa should be boosted in a way that really benefits them. We should seek a powerful position in negotiation without making any threats," he said. Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) stood at around $1.2 trillion in 2008, according to the World Bank. The continent's GDP is likely to grow by between 5.5 and six per cent this year as it recovers from the global downturn, according to figures released by the African Development Bank (AfDB). Therefore, co-operation would be of mutual benefit. "We shouldn't deal with the Nile Basin countries as a cluster, but as individual states. Egypt must have access to the Horn of Africa by any means," he said. The Egyptian Government has set up a $1 billion fund for investment in Ethiopia. The National Bank of Egypt has unveiled plans to use 50,000 feddans (acres) for growing crops in Ethiopia. More than 300 million people live in the Nile Basin, half of whom directly depend on its waters. The country's private sector may play a role too. El-Sewedy Cables, for instance, has launched a power cables plant in Addis Ababa, with total investment of $36 million. "Bolstering ties with Eritrea and Ogaden may prove helpful as Ethiopia would seek repent harm rather than to gain a benefit," he said. Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia after a two-year war in 2000. People of Ogaden, in the east of Ethiopia, are of Somali ethnic group, seek independence as well. El-Tahtawy calls for a clear-cut differentiation between friendship on equal footing in politics and submission. "How come that all those, who are stabbing us in the back, are our friends?" Drawing the attention to a very critical issue, Hany Raslan, an expert with the Cairo-based Al-Ahram Centre for Strategic Studies, stresses the importance of water culture in Egypt. "Egypt has a water scarcity problem as supplies of water have fallen to 860 cubic metres per capita a year. Water supplies below 1,000 cubic metres mean an imbalance between availability and demand, or scarcity," Raslan said. "By 2017, the level will drop to 582 cubic metres, and Egypt's water needs are expected to reach 86 billion cubic metres per year," Raslan said, adding that 85 per cent of water consumption in the most populous Arab went to agriculture. By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions, according to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Ethiopia's population is expected to reach113 million by 2025, while the population of Egypt is seen to total 99 million, according to a UN report. "There will be more reliance on recycled water, which stands at six billion cubic metres annually. Therefore, water policies in Egypt must be changed," he said. According to him, the country's agriculture policy should change, excluding water-intensive crops. "Growing wheat abroad and banning rice exports will be a perfect solution," he said. The 30.2 million square kilometre continent, which is abundant in water resources, may be utilised for growing wheat and other crops. Egypt imports around seven million tonnes of wheat annually, according to official figures. The most populous Arab country's imports of agro-food stand at around $8 billion, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
