The Question Of The Nile In Ethio Egyptian Relations Challenges And Opportunites

The Nile issue has long shaped the relations between Ethiopia and Egypt. WithrnEgypt dominating the hydropolitics of the Nile, Ethiopia has been unable to strike arndeal on establishing user right on the river. Egypt has made its preoccupation tornobstruct any development efforts on the Nile by Ethiopia. Egypt’s diplomatic andrnpolitical superiority has also proved effective in blocking any international fundingrnfor Ethiopia’s effort in using the resources of the Nile.rnEgypt has also tried to exploit the instabilities and internal crises in some countriesrnin the basin, particularly Ethiopia, in support of one or the other parties involved inrnthe crisis with the object of diverting development efforts on the Nile.rnThis study emphasizes on the need to change the hitherto uncompromisingrnhydropolitical situation in the basin particularly, the need to forge cooperation onrnusing the resources of the river for the common good of the riparian countries. In thisrnregard the recognition of equitable entitlement of the resources of the river to all thernNail basin countries is viewed as a positive step towards rapprochement in the basinrncountries in general and between Egypt and Ethiopia in particular.rnThe present cooperative endeavors and recognition of equitable entitlement of thernriparians is to my understanding a welcome sign for future cooperation on utilizingrnthe resources of the river. But there also seem to be some problems on the road torncooperation. The stumbling block in this regard appears to be the prevaricationrndisplayed by the downstream co-riparian stapes of Egypt, and the Sudan.rnThe study also highlights the need of the Ethiopian side to show commitment andrnaction to implement its development projects even if foreign assistance couldn’t bernavailable. Ethiopia is also expected to display a more proactive diplomatic role inrnattracting foreign assistance.The study also touches on the lessons that are learned from the various political andrndiplomatic initiatives on forging agreement on the Nile. It also urges on the need tornregister progress in the ongoing attempts to come up with legal and institutionalrnframework for establishing rights on the Nile resource. But the study also advises onrnthe benefit of participating on the ongoing Nile Basin Initiative and specifically onrnthe project-by- project based agreement of the ENSAP. It attempts to prove thatrnEthiopia’s participation in the short-term on such initiatives as ENSAP could notrnjeopardize her right to equitable share on the Nile. But a stress is made on the need tornguard against the prevarication of Egypt and Sudan who seem not to desist from theirrnunilateral and uncompromising stance. In this instance, Ethiopia’s choice is advisedrnto be to mobilize its own human and financial resource and to build the necessaryrninfrastructure on the ground for her ultimate utilization of the Nile

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