ENTEBBE, Uganda
A landmark multinational agreement on managing the waters of the Nile River has entered into force -- over the vehement objections of Egypt.
The Nile River Basin
Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) took effect on Sunday after more than a
decade of negotiations among countries that share the mighty river.
The Nile Basin Initiative -- a
partnership of 10 Nile riparian countries based in the Ugandan town of Entebbe
-- described the CFA as a "defining moment" in the history of the
Nile Basin.
"(The agreement) is a
testament to our collective determination to harness the Nile River for the
benefit of all, ensuring its equitable and sustainable use for generations to
come," it said in a statement.
But the treaty was signed and
ratified by only five Nile nations -- notably Ethiopia -- but not Egypt or
Sudan.
The latter two have been
locked in a long-running dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam (GERD), a mega hydropower project on the Blue Nile.
Ethiopia considers the $4
billion dam vital to its development and the supply of electricity to its 120
million-strong population.
But Egypt has long viewed it
as an existential threat, as the north African country relies on the Nile for
97 percent of its water needs.
"Egypt will not
compromise even a metre of Nile water, and rejects totally the Entebbe
agreement," its irrigation minister Hani Sewilam said Sunday, according to
state-linked media.
A summit of Nile nations was
due to be held in Uganda on October 17 but has been postponed until early next
year, Vincent Bagiire, permanent secretary at Uganda's foreign ministry told
AFP on Monday.
He declined to give a reason
amid speculations it was due to disagreements among member countries.
The Nile Basin Initiative says
the CFA aims to "rectify historical imbalances in access to the Nile's
waters and ensure that all Nile Basin countries -- whether upstream or
downstream -- can benefit from this shared resource".
It said the Nile, which
stretches over 11 countries, sustains more than half a billion people.
The Nile Basin Initiative
groups Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, while Eritrea has the role of
observer.
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