African States Ratify Nile River Deal Despite Egypt and Sudan Rejection
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has announced the formal implementation of the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) for managing and developing the Nile Basin’s water resources. This move has escalated tensions between Ethiopia and downstream nations Egypt and Sudan, who have long expressed concerns about the equitable sharing of Nile waters, especially in light of Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project.
The CFA, also known as the Entebbe Agreement, was signed by six upstream countries—Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Burundi—in 2010, with South Sudan joining in 2012. It seeks to establish the Nile River Basin Commission (NRBC) to promote cooperative resource management. However, Egypt and Sudan, heavily reliant on Nile waters, have rejected the framework, viewing it as inadequate for addressing their concerns. Cairo, which draws 97% of its freshwater from the Nile, considers the agreement a potential threat to its water security.
The primary tension stems from Ethiopia’s GERD project, Africa’s largest hydroelectric plant under construction since 2011. The dam is critical to Ethiopia’s aspirations for energy independence and economic growth, but Egypt and Sudan have repeatedly voiced fears about its potential to reduce their water supply. Egypt, in particular, has called for a legally binding agreement on the dam’s operation and filling to avoid unilateral actions that could impact downstream flows. Sudan, facing internal political turmoil, shares similar concerns about water shortages and the dam’s impact on its agricultural sector.
Despite multiple rounds of negotiations and diplomatic engagements, no consensus has been reached. Ethiopia has insisted the dam poses no threat to water security and is key to its development. Meanwhile, Egypt escalated the dispute by filing a complaint with the UN Security Council in 2023, accusing Ethiopia of acting unilaterally in filling the dam’s reservoir without a binding agreement. This followed Ethiopia’s announcement of completing the fifth filling phase of the dam, a move criticized by both Egypt and Sudan.
As tensions persist, the CFA’s implementation reflects growing regional divisions over the Nile’s future, with Ethiopia urging non-signatory states like Egypt and Sudan to join the framework for “genuine cooperation.” However, the opposition from Cairo and Khartoum suggests the dispute over the Nile and GERD will continue to challenge regional stability and international diplomacy.
If you value our journalism…
TMJ News is committed to remaining an independent, reader-funded news platform. A small donation from our valuable readers like you keeps us running so that we can keep our reporting open to all! We’ve launched a fundraising campaign to raise the $10,000 we need to meet our publishing costs this year, and it’d mean the world to us if you’d make a monthly or one-time donation to help. If you value what we publish and agree that our world needs alternative voices like ours in the media, please give what you can today.