Four African Countries Challenge Egypt's Rights To Nile Water
15.05.2010
Four African countries which share the Nile River basin have signed an agreement which abrogates two prior agreements that have established the
rights of Egypt and Sudan to most of the water of the Nile River.
The countries which signed the new agreement are Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.
The other Nile basin countries, Burundi and Congo Democratic Republic were absent while Egypt and Sudan, the two countries most adversely affected,
rejected the agreement entirely.
Kenya, the other country which shares the Nile River basin, announced that it would sign the new agreement as soon as possible.
Sudan (1) -- Analyses -- 2010
More about the agreement
15.05.2010
The 1929 agreement was signed by Egypt and Great Britain acting as the colonial power in charge of countries in East Africa.
The agreement guaranteed the rights of Egypt and Sudan as the downstream countries of the largest share of the Nile River water.
The 1959 agreement, which was negotiated between Egypt and Sudan on the eve of the construction of the Aswan Dam, unilaterally increased the share of Sudan in the water
of the Nile River.
Egypt insists on preserving its "historical rights," while most countries affected by the 1929 agreement decry it as a colonial relic.
According to the 1929 and the 1959 agreements, Egypt receives 55.5 billion of cubic meters of water, which translates into 700 cubic meters per capita.
Egypt argues that the International organizations have established a minimum of 1000 cubic meters per capita below which a country would suffer water poverty.
A meeting of the riparian countries in Sharm Al-Sheikh last month ended in a deadlock, pitching Egypt and Sudan at one end and the other African countries on the other end.
Bulgarian