De-Africanization, Arabization of the Nile: Cairo’s Desperate Attempt to Internationalize Abbay Dam

May 25, 2023

BY DESTA GEBREHIWOT

Failing to learn from its past blunders, Egypt has once again been trying to galvanize international support to advance its lopsided and hostile position towards the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Abbay Dam). This time, the country is using a different actor but a once-tried and failed approach. For quite a while now, the country has been looking for external parties to do the dirty jobs of twisting facts and politicizing technical issues. And, the byword to describe Egypt’s current approach is Arabization of the Nile or De-Africanization of the Nile.

Since the inception of the construction of Abbay Dam, Egypt has been switching from one tactic to another to disrupt the project and rally as many countries as possible behind its mission. The country has in many instances tried to use international organs or regional blocs to impose its will on Ethiopia. Yet, Ethiopia’s genuine cause and even-mindedness prevailed over greed.

It must be clear that Egypt’s previous attempts to give Ethiopia’s flagship project an international face brought nothing but shame to the country. Time and time again, Egypt’s desperate attempts to make the technical issue a global matter have failed disastrously and the UN had to refer the issue of GERD to the African Union.

Although Ethiopia has been going to the end of the earth to resolve disputes through an atmosphere of calm, Cairo has been adamant in sticking to hawkish and belligerent acts. The efforts have not halted the construction of the mega dam, nor have yielded any good outcome to Egypt other than escalating tension in the region.

For over a decade now, Ethiopia has relented in its strong stance to bring Egypt on board and redress any concerns the downstream might have with the construction of the dam. Ethiopia’s bold and courageous moves were vital to the signing of the Declaration of Principles in 2015 and the Memorandum of Understanding in 2017. These steps have also been imperative in building mutual trust among Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. There have been strings of negotiations under the auspicious of the US government and the African Union afterward.

The facts that previous negotiations have failed to bring a breakthrough have to do with Egypt’s hypocritical and obsolete position towards the Abbay River. The historical rights and the so-called water share to which Cairo allude have been stumbling block that antagonizes the rationale of the 21st century’s win-win solution.

While showing contempt and disregard towards African institutions, Egypt tried to build international pressure on Ethiopia taking the regional issue to the United Nations Security Council not once but twice. These moves were not successful and failed to bring results in Cairo’s favor. Yet, the country continues its wrong approach that only gets worse every year Ethiopia plans to water-fill the dam.

Cairo’s hostile propaganda and saber rattling reach a new level as the dam progress. And, recently, Egypt has been trying to impose its will on Ethiopia through its allies in the Arab League. The Arab bloc whose headquarters Egypt hosts has repeatedly been getting off the track making a rather absurd statement regarding the dam.

In violation of international norms, the League has been hostile to Ethiopia meddling in a regional issue that only needs regional solutions. From making the issue of the Nile a permanent agenda to calling on Ethiopia to stop the filling of the dam, the League adopted wrong resolutions and parroted the malicious interest of Egypt. In its latest move, the Arab League once again published a resolution calling on Ethiopia to refrain from filling the dam without any agreement. This sick jock runs in sharp contradiction to the Declaration of Principles Egypt concluded with Ethiopia and Sudan. The declaration states that the countries can jointly seek third-party mediation once they agree.

In a statement issued earlier this week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Ethiopia notes with dismay that the resolution adopted by the recent Summit of the League of Arab States echoed Egyptian hostile rhetoric regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam or Abbay Dam

The resolution is an affront to the African Union and its Member States, which are working to bring an amicable negotiated resolution to the GERD matter, the Ministry stated. “It also runs contrary to the cherished and the shared history of the peoples of Africa and the Arab world,” the statement added.

In 2015, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan signed the Agreement on the Declaration of Principles, which unambiguously provides that the construction of the Dam shall continue in parallel with the negotiations on the guidelines and rules on the first filling and operation of the dam. The details of dam filling, including the volume and duration, have been agreed upon between the experts of the three countries.

“Throughout the process, going out of its way, Ethiopia has catered to the concerns of Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia continues respecting the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization of the waters of the Nile,” stressed the statement.

Thus, the ministry stated that the allegation that Ethiopia has taken unilateral measures is a deliberate mischaracterization. Egypt’s attempts to exert pressure on Ethiopia by using the Arab League forum indicates its lack of good faith and violation of the Agreement on the Declaration of Principles concluded with Ethiopia and Sudan.

According to the statement, Ethiopia works closely with Sudan on all bilateral matters, including issues related to the Abbay Dam. Ethiopia commended those Member States of the League of Arab States that cautioned against Egypt’s attempts to escalate the matter.

“Ethiopia is confident that members of the League, particularly the Member States of the African Union, will disassociate themselves from this resolution. They should prevent Egypt’s further misuse of the League that could potentially create a rift in the longstanding African-Arab friendship and historic relations,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs underlined.

Ethiopia called upon Egypt to abandon its unlawful claim to the monopoly of the Nile River, citing defunct colonial agreements and a colonial-mentality-based position to negotiate in good faith and reach a win-win outcome. Egypt should also, act responsibly to lay the foundation for this generation and the ones to come.

The resolution adopted by the recent summit of the League of Arab States with regard to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is blatant interference in the affairs of other countries, Addis Ababa University lecturer Samuel Tefera said.

The resolution adopted by the Arab League is a blatant interference in the affairs of others. In particular, the erroneous statement which mentions that Ethiopia refrain from filling the dam without any agreement reveals the interference of the League of Arab States, he told ENA.

Also, the resolution adopted by the Arab League that the water security issue of Egypt and Sudan is that of the entire Arab world reflects the wish of the bloc to extend the one-sided longstanding desire of Egypt, the scholar elaborated.

Hence, this biased resolution is unacceptable and impedes the efforts being exerted to bring mutually beneficial solutions and confidence in relation to the dam, Samuel stated. The resolution is not only biased and one-sided but has not also taken the historical relations of Arab countries with Ethiopia and future relations.

The resolution adopted by the Arab League is no different from its previous one, the scholar noted, urging the bloc to adopt a resolution beneficial to the riparian countries. He finally stressed the importance of finding a solution to the dispute regarding GERD (Abbay Dam) based on the Declaration of Principles signed in 2015 by Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

It should be not that the issue of Abbay can only be resolved through win-win approach among the basin countries and can only be mediated through an African mechanism. And, Ethiopia’s Pretoria peace deal brokered by the African Union laments the capability of African institutions to solve the continent’s problems peacefully and dub handedly.

The Ethiopian Herald May 25/2023