Water and International Relations: The Case of the Nile

Campbell MacDiarmid of Al Jazeera wrote a piece entitled Hydro Diplomacy on the Nile. In the article, MacDiarmid wrote about the tensions that states in North East Africa have had with one another with regards to access to the Nile River. Egypt and Sudan, through agreements with Britain in the 1900s, have had the majority of control of the Nile River. However, this has upset many states in the region, including but not limited to Ethiopia, who feel that the countries near the higher point of the Nile should be given more access to the resource.

And, many countries have been at a point of tension on this issue. However, it seems that Egypt and Ethiopia may be closer to ending the conflict between them. The points of the deal have not yet been publicized, but it is important to examine what a potential deal looks like. According to the report, “Last week’s meetings were the latest in a series of diplomatic efforts to resolve a conflict that has at times escalated to threats of war between two countries viewed as anchors of stability at either end of the Nile: Egypt thirsty for water, Ethiopia hungry for economic development.” In addition, “The foreign ministers and water ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan met in Khartoum last Tuesday for diplomatic and technical discussions over a large dam Ethiopia is constructing over a Nile tributary” (MacDiarmid, 2015). In addition, it seems that the three states agreed on how the Nile Basin, as well as how the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam would be used by the different countries in the agreement.

An agreement on this issue is imperative for the countries in the region, given the heavy demand for water, and the tensions that have resulted from the colonial policies first supported by Britain.