Egypt has been practising a very wasteful outdated irrigation practice for way too long. All the canals, main, primary, secondary and tertiary are open canals and they mainly practice flood irrigation. Even if there was no evaporation this practice is highly wasteful and when we consider evaporation along all of its canals it is evident that too much water is wasted to irrigate crops in Egypt.
In addition, it grows crops such as rice, which because they require huge quantities of water are not recommended for countries with adverse climatic conditions like Egypt. Egypt has no ground for complaints before addressing the wasteful practice and abandoning crops which waste lots of water.
Egypt must demonstrate goodwill and readiness to accept responsibility for the wrong practices before complaining about water shortages. There are many things the riparian countries including Egypt can do together to mitigate shortages but that requires trust, abundant goodwill, good neighbourly relations and commitment from all of these states.
So far, Egypt has been on the wrong track. Egypt must wake up as it is no use dwelling on issues that will not pay dividends. Egypt wants to capitalise on the fact that because the other riparian countries of the Nile did not utilise the resource till now, that is a declaration that they do not want the resource forever. That however is not true.
What were and still are the wrong strategies Egypt has been following on the Nile?
One is Egypt has been heavily engaged in destabilising activities through the support of insurgencies in the riparian countries, especially Ethiopia. The objective is clear, from Egypt’s perspective, these countries should not be allowed a respite, to develop their economies and embark on meaningful and long-term projects, such as the GERD.
Second is through continuous and relentless diplomatic efforts, to make sure that no country or institution will support any significant development effort on the Nile or its tributaries by the riparian countries. Hence, as these countries have not been economically strong to engage in any fortune changing project or projects on their own, Egyptian influence has successfully barred projects over the Nile and its tributaries.
Third is deliberately misinforming and creating the sense of insecurity amongst its own population to the level of thinking and believing that any country that takes any development effort on the Nile is an enemy of Egypt and should be resisted by every means including militarily.
The fourth is the blind belief by all their governments, past and present, that the above strategies are foolproof and that they will work forever.
What are the realities today regarding the strategies?
All four strategies are no more foolproof. Ethiopia has shown to the world with commitment and dedication of the leadership, sacrifices of professionals and particularly the people, any country can do mega projects from its own meagre resources.
In fact, only countries which rely on their own resources can bring meaningful change. Destabilising activities can only have short term effect and sooner or later they are bound to fail. They should not be allowed to determine destinies of nations.
The diplomatic effort is also short lived. Egypt has to learn that if the efforts are not supported by facts, they will not produce lasting results. Every country will at some stage rise to be master of its destiny and develop self-reliance.
One should not count on all countries being dependent on foreign aid or foreign financing for all of their development programs. With or without foreign aid these countries will develop. They will learn from each other’s experience and support each other through their regional and other well-meaning organisations.
The people of any country have the right to know the truth especially about the countries with which it has common interest. Falls information is counterproductive. Instead, governments should work hard to foster good neighbourly relations, develop trust and strive for economic integration.
The people of Egypt must know more about the people and culture of the riparian countries and vice versa. They must see how they can develop the region for common good together and conceptualise projects that will serve as many of them as possible. They have to commit to build institutions that will promote common agendas, embracing all the countries of the basin.
What has now changed the situation over Nile?
The construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has changed everything around the Nile. The hegemonic water policy of Egypt over Nile has been challenged and the Nile has 11 stakeholders and not just Sudan and Egypt. The Nile is an African river and that only Africans have an enduring voice over its destiny has been firmly entrenched with the construction of the GERD.
The construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has changed everything around the Nile.
The AU as a continental organisation has received a worldwide recognition of its responsibilities and rights, hence, this project has done a regional and continental contribution of historic proportion worthy of record.
What should Egypt learn from this and what should it do?
The leaders of Egypt must recognise and accept that their strategies are not 21st century strategies and they were not formulated on confidence building, good neighbourliness, and mutual respect. Hence, they are crumbling. The leadership should therefore, for the good of Egypt declare its independence from the long serving, self-centred ideology and join hands with its southern neighbours for the great common good and cooperate on building a prosperous region.
The Nile is an African river.
It has to embrace the future, which primarily lies in Africa and address its institutions which are North and East focused to focus on the South. The South is its security and its resource. It has to be African in the real sense and not just geographically. Egypt has to recognise African Institutions such as The Nile Commission and The Nile Basin Initiative and become active member for the common good. It must be pragmatic and start moving forward.
Lessons for all the riparian countries
Ethiopia is in the final stage of construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) through its own resources. It is a mega project by any measure. Because it is being built through no loans when it starts to generate revenue, Ethiopia will not have to make any loan and interest repayments to external financiers and the revenue thus generated partly in hard currency, will be the catapult for its anticipated phenomenal growth and this should be the good, healthy start for its self-sufficiency and economic independence.
Ethiopia has demonstrated that it has a people that can be inspired and has synergized the vision of its leadership and the commitment of the people towards this goal. The people are inspired and ready for more achievements, hence the leadership should take advantage and keep the momentum going and embark on similar grand projects. This should be a strong lesson to the other riparian countries and even to the wider region and all of Africa.
The other countries of the region should take this lesson of self-reliance very seriously and should implement it in their own countries. This should change the region for good and should result in an economic revolution that would change the economic and political landscape of the region and hopefully that of the rest of Africa.
** Lemma Teklehaimanot is a civil engineer majoring in hydraulics, with many years of experience in irrigation and water supply projects study, design and construction as government employee and with consultants and contractors and currently in construction materials supply business. He can be reached at lemma.t@gmail.com
