President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi Meets German President: Addressing the Nile Water Dispute and GERD
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Roshan Amiri
- . September 12, 2024
- . Update: September 12, 2024 7:06 pm
Meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinheimer in Cairo on Wednesday, September 11, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi addressed one of the most urgent regional concerns confronting Egypt and its neighbors: Nile water allocation and management. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a massive and very divisive hydropower project under development by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile, dominated these negotiations. Along with the future of the dam, the two presidents discussed the continuing diplomatic tensions between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan as well as the worldwide ramifications of the conflict.
Egypt’s long-standing attempt to obtain a legally enforceable agreement on the operation and filling of the GERD reservoir with Ethiopia was front and foremost in these talks. Egypt, almost totally dependent on the Nile for its fresh water, has seen the dam as an existential threat particularly in light of a deal guaranteeing fair water sharing cannot be obtained.
Notes on the Joint Press Conference
President Al-Sisi underlined the crucial relevance of the Nile water crisis to Egypt’s national security and well-being in a joint press conference after their talks at Al-Ittihadiya Palace. Based on globally accepted criteria for transboundary rivers, he said Egypt has been actively negotiating with Ethiopia for more than ten years. Al-Sisi noted that having given Egypt continuous water for hundreds of years, the Nile River is the single major supply of water for the nation. Furthermore mentioned by him were the disastrous effects any decrease in Nile flow brought about by the GERD could have for Egypt’s energy, drinking water, and agriculture sectors.
The Egyptian President clarified further that Cairo’s posture has always been one of diplomacy and collaboration. Still, he underlined that Ethiopia’s actions—especially its choice to move forward with several stages of unilateral filling the dam—have been quite alarming and seen as a breach of Egypt’s rights under international law.
President Steinmeier said Germany’s awareness of the seriousness of the matter and the necessity of a peaceful settlement considering the rights and needs of every nation bordering the Nile. His remarks underlined Germany’s readiness to participate in diplomatic initiatives and guarantee that any solution attained will support regional stability and sustainable development.
Recent Comments Made by Ethiopia and Growing Tensions
Al-Sisi and Steinmeier’s meeting took place at a pivotal moment since tensions between Egypt and Ethiopia had once more risen. Ethiopia had charged Egypt in recent weeks of using what it claimed to be a “aggressive approach” in managing the GERD negotiations. Egypt’s official complaint to the United Nations Security Council, which delineated its concerns about Ethiopia’s unilateral policies on the dam, set off this discourse Egypt in the complaint said Ethiopia’s actions directly threatened regional stability and violated international law.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia responded to the complaint by saying Egypt has to “abandon its aggressive stance” and substitute a more positive negotiating attitude. This war of words has further complicated the already tense diplomatic terrain by leaving little space for compromise and rendering the possibility of a quick conclusion progressively doubtful.
The GERD Conflict’s Ten Years of Diplomatic Struggles
The Nile water conflict had its roots about ten years ago. Ethiopia formally declared in 2010 its intentions to build what would become the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a vast infrastructural project meant to use the Blue Nile River’s power. Expected to be the biggest hydroelectric dam in Africa with an estimated cost of over $4 billion, the GERD has the capacity to produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity. Ethiopia has long maintained that energy requirements and economic growth depend on the dam.
But the building of the dam instantly sent off alarms in Egypt and Sudan, both of which mostly rely on Nile water for agricultural, drinking, and other basic requirements. The immediate diplomatic reaction from the news led Nile Basin governments to sign the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement in 2010, sometimes known as the Entebbe Agreement. This agreement was meant to generate a fresh, more fair system for Nile water management. Egypt and Sudan refused to join the deal, however, claiming that it fell short of sufficiently safeguarding their traditional water rights, which had been ingrained in past accords going back to the colonial era.
The legacy of the 1929 and 1959 Nile Water Agreements
Originally designed to replace the 1929 and 1959 Nile Water accords, which had before controlled water supplies among the nations of the Nile Basin, the Entebbe Agreement Egypt was granted 55.5 billion cubic meters of water annually under these older agreements, whereas Sudan got 18.5 billion cubic meters. These treaties also gave Egypt and Sudan veto authority over any downstream projects likely to affect their water allocation. For many years, Nile water management was built on these treaties.
Ethiopia and other upstream nations, however, saw these agreements as out-of-date and unfair as they were negotiated during a period when the British colonial government had major influence in the area. The Entebbe Agreement was thus meant to capture the reality of the contemporary Nile Basin governments. Nevertheless, Egypt and Sudan’s rejection to sign the Entebbe Agreement has left the area without a thorough legal framework for water sharing, hence fueling the present GERD crisis.
Negotiations, Mistakes, and Diplomatic Collapsons
Many initiatives aimed at resolving the GERD conflict via diplomatic means started from 2011 forward. Several committees were established between 2011 and 2014 to evaluate Egypt’s water supply’s possible influence by the dam. Notwithstanding these initiatives, improvement stayed modest. Ethiopia said by 2014 that thirty-two percent of the dam’s building was finished.
With Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan signing the Declaration of Principles in Khartoum, 2015 seemed to hold a breakthrough within reach. Since it included several important clauses meant to stop the GERD from seriously damaging any of the three nations, this agreement was praised as a major progress. Emphasizing the need of economic development, international cooperation, and operational agreements prior to the reservoir of the dam full, the declaration underlined
Still, dreams for a permanent fix were soon shattered. Ethiopia claimed by 2016 that 60% of the dam’s construction had been finished, but talks among the three nations had once more come to a stand-still. Not one concrete outcome came of a series of high-level consultations comprising agriculture and foreign ministries as well as intelligence heads in 2017 and 2018.
Escalation and the function of foreign mediation
Aiming to solve the crucial question of how the GERD reservoir would be filled and what operating procedures would control the dam’s use during drought, Egypt revived its calls for a fresh round of negotiations in Cairo in 2019. These negotiations sadly fell apart when Ethiopia turned down Egypt’s recommendations, citing issues with national sovereignty and its right to use its water resources as it deemed appropriate.
When Ethiopia announced its intention to unilaterally start emptying the GERD reservoir in July of 2020, tensions increased still more. Egypt responded by consulting the United Nations Security Council, characterizing the circumstances as “an imminent threat to international peace and security.” No agreement was reached despite African Union participation and mediation efforts by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ethiopia’s GERD Fifth Filling: Presenting a fresh obstacle for negotiations
Ethiopia declared in July of this year that, in spite of continuous negotiations with Egypt and Sudan, it will be filling the GERD reservoir fifthly. This choice has only prolonged the diplomatic deadlock and begged more issues regarding the direction of water security in the Nile Basin.
It was abundantly evident as Egypt’s and Germany’s leaders were leaving their conference that the GERD issue is still far from settled. The stakes are bigger than ever with Ethiopia ahead with its building and filling ambitions and Egypt still advocating a legally enforceable deal. Whether a peaceful and durable solution can be reached going ahead will depend critically on the function of international diplomacy as well as the participation of important players like Germany and the United Nations.
Looking ahead: looking for a diplomatic and legal resolution
Centered on the GERD, the Nile water conflict continues to be one of the most delicate and complicated geopolitical concerns facing Africa. The future of water security for millions of people living all throughout Egypt hangs in the balance as Egypt keeps looking for foreign support for its posture. Resolving the conflict will need not only bilateral talks between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan but also coordinated efforts of foreign mediators to guarantee that the interests of every Nile Basin member are given priority.
The nations engaged seek to avoid more escalation and find a solution that guarantees the fair use of the Nile’s waters for next generations by means of diplomatic engagement, openness, and adherence to international legal standards only.
