Saturday, March 22, 2014
Will Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam dry the Nile in Egypt?
Ethiopia is pressing ahead with construction of a major new dam on the River Nile, despite stiff opposition from Egypt. BBC correspondents in both countries report from both sides of an increasingly bitter water dispute.
Emmanuel Igunza, Ethiopia
A vast section of northern Ethiopia has been turned into a giant building site.
Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (known as Gerd) is now about 30% complete.
The whole project spans an area of 1,800 sq km (695 sq miles).
Continue reading the main story
Once completed, in three years, it will be Africa's largest hydropower dam, standing some 170m (558ft) tall.
At a cost of $4.7bn (£2.9bn) it will also be hugely expensive - mostly funded by Ethiopian bonds and taxpayers.
The dam is located in the Benishangul region, a vast, arid land on the border with Sudan, some 900km north-west of the capital Addis Ababa,
Temperatures here can get as high as 48C (118F). Most of the vegetation that existed on the dam site has been cleared to make way for the construction, and the area is now extremely dusty.
In May last year, the builders achieved their first milestone when they diverted the course of the Blue Nile.
What used to be the river bed is now being lined with layers and layers of concrete that will form part of the main dam.
Some 8,500 people working at the site, where construction carries on 24 hours a day.
Part of the actual dam structure is already taking shape. The workers are busy at work on what looks like a huge floor of concrete.
Downstream, Egypt - which relies almost totally on the waters of the Nile, says their supply will be under threat.
Egypt and Sudan currently get the lion's share of the Nile's waters under colonial-era treaties. While Sudan backs Ethiopia's plans, Egypt has remained opposed.
Talks to ease tensions between the two countries have collapsed.
Despite this, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Amb Dina Mufti describes the dam as a "win-win" project.
"Sudan has already seen the benefits and has come on board, we hope Egypt will see that too," he says.
Sally Nabil, Aswan, Egypt
The concern in Egypt is about the potential threat to its dominance over the Nile.
Egypt fears Ethiopia's dam will restrict the flow of this strategic waterway - the main source of water in a country where rainfall is scarce.
The row started in 2011, and Egypt has been worried ever since that its annual quota of the Nile water might be reduced.
This conflict comes at a time when different parts of Egypt are already suffering from a shortage of water. In the northern Nile Delta, the agricultural heart of Egypt, a lot of farmers are waiting with a heavy heart to see if they will be able to cultivate their land next summer.
"With even less water, we will die. We can't survive," says Hafiza, one of the farmers.
Ethiopia says its hydro-electric dam will not harm either of its downstream countries, Egypt or Sudan. However, Egypt is highly sceptical.
"It is a matter of life or death, a national security issue that can never be compromised on," says foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty.
Egypt is aware that some 30% of the Ethiopian dam is completed. It is still unclear what's Egypt's next step will be.
Dispatches: Removing the Bar for Ethiopia
Leslie Lefkow
On March 19, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) decided to admit Ethiopia as a candidate country. With this move, the EITI may have added a member, but it lost its credibility as a good governance initiative.
Bringing together stakeholders from government, industry and civil society organizations, the EITI is supposed to provide incentives for governments to improve transparency in the oil, gas and mining sectors. One key criterion for membership in the group is that governments commit to meaningful participation for civil society on issues related to natural resources. The EITI Standard instructs that, “government must ensure there are no obstacles to civil society and company participation in the process,” including with regard to “relevant laws, regulations, and administrative rules as well as actual practice in implementation of the EITI.”
The logic is simple: publishing data on natural resource issues can only lead to better government decisions if there’s real public scrutiny and an opportunity for civic engagement.
Ethiopia, however, is one of the most repressive countries in the world when it comes to the ability of independent civil society and media to function. Admitting Ethiopia to EITI isn’t just lowering the bar on the need for civil society participation, it’s removing the bar entirely.
The EITI decision is all the more disturbing because in 2010 the EITI Board rightly rejected Ethiopia’s candidacy. It recognized that a draconian 2009 civil society law fundamentally represses civil society in the country, and stated that it would reconsider Ethiopia’s application only when the law was “no longer in place.”
The law prohibits nongovernmental organizations from working in human rights and good governance if they receive more than 10 percent of their funds from abroad. As a result, today there are few organizations working on these issues and those that do, self-censor and straddle a knife-edge, always concerned about a potential crackdown. The situation for media freedom is equally dire: Ethiopia has jailed and forced into exile more journalists than anywhere else in Africa, except Eritrea.
Yet, in a complete reversal from its 2010 stance and despite considerable and sometimes bitter debate at a session in Oslo, EITI endorsed Ethiopia’s candidacy.Troublingly, EITI Chair Clare Short claimed that the decision showed “the Board was convinced by the government’s commitment to the EITI’s principles.”
But without a change in Ethiopia’s law, the EITI itself has undermined those principles.
=>hrw
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