Ethiopia has agreed to delay ratification of a treaty that strips Egypt of rights to the lion’s share of the Nile river’s waters until it has elected a new government, officials said on Tuesday.
Egypt has been at odds with upriver nations over changes to colonial-era treaties that gave it veto power over dam projects. Six Nile basin countries, including Ethiopia, have now signed the deal, effectively stripping Egypt of its veto.
Egypt, threatened by rising temperatures and a growing population, is almost entirely dependent on the Nile for its water and has been nervously watching hydropower dam projects take shape in upriver nations.
An Egyptian team of 48 politicians and activists visited Addis Ababa this week as part of a charm offensive to try to push for a compromise. The visit was coordinated with Egypt’s Foreign Ministry. A delegation visited Uganda last month.
“They met the prime minister on Monday and requested that Egypt be given time until it sets up a new government,” Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesman Dina Mufti told Reuters.
“The prime minister has agreed to their requests and also offered to allow a team of Ethiopian, Sudanese and Egyptian experts, as well as international scientists, to see the benefits of the new dam,” he said.
Egyptians are expected to vote for a new leader in December after popular protests toppled Hosni Mubarak in February.
MEGA DAM
Ethiopia announced last month it was building a $4.78-billion dam along its share of the river and that it had not informed Egypt about the project.
“The Ethiopian prime minister’s comments are very positive and reflect the new spirit Egyptian ties to Nile basin countries are now witnessing,” said Egyptian Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Hussein el-Atfi.
“Egypt is keen to not oppose any project that would be in the interests of Ethiopia and the rest of the Nile basin countries, as long as it does not hurt Egypt’s own water interests.”
Since Mubarak’s fall, the military-backed interim government has not openly criticised the new treaty, instead focusing on diplomatic ties in the search for a compromise.
Some members of the Egyptian team in Addis Ababa, which included three presidential candidates and a former diplomat, blamed Mubarak’s foreign policy for the Nile problems, saying he had neglected relations with other African states.
“The (new Nile treaty) was signed in the absence of Egypt … It’s a result of bad foreign policy under Mubarak’s regime,” Hamdeen Sabahy, an Egyptian presidential candidate, said.
Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman said both countries recognised there had been a thaw in relations and said Egypt’s interim prime minister would visit Addis Ababa in May. Egypt’s foreign minister said the visit would take place next week.
Under a 1929 pact, Egypt is entitled to 55.5 billion cubic metres a year of the Nile’s flow of around 84 billion cubic metres.