Context: Recently, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have agreed on to resume negotiations to resolve their decade-long complex dispute over the Grand Renaissance Dam hydropower project in the Horn of Africa.

Key Points

• Africa’s longest river, the Nile, has been at the center of a decade-long complex dispute involving several countries in the continent who are dependent on the river’s waters. 
• At the forefront of this dispute however, are Ethiopia and Egypt. Later this year, talks are set to begin between the two countries in Washington D.C. on the future of the hydropower project on the Nile that is at the center of these disputes.

About Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)

• It is a gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia that has been under construction since 2011.
• At 6.45 gigawatts, the dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when completed, as well as the seventh-largest in the world.
• Once completed, the reservoir could take anywhere between 5 and 15 years to fill with water, depending on hydrologic conditions during the filling period and agreements reached between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt.

Issues with the Dam

• While the main waterways of the Nile run through Uganda, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt, its drainage basin runs through other countries in East Africa, including Ethiopia.
• Egypt has objected to the construction of this dam and in Sudan has found itself caught in the midst of this conflict.
• Due to the importance of the Nile as a necessary water source in the region, observers are concerned that this dispute may evolve into a full-fledged conflict between the two nations. The US has stepped in to mediate.

How can this lead to conflict?

• The mega project may just allow the country to control the river’s waters, and this is essentially what concerns Egypt because it lies downstream.
• Egypt has objected to these plans and has proposed a longer timeline for the project because it does not want the water level of the Nile to dramatically drop as the reservoir fills with water in the initial stages.
• For the past four years, triparty talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have been unable to reach agreements. Egypt isn’t alone in its concerns.
• Sudan is hardly a passive observer caught in the conflict just because of its location.
• It too believes Ethiopia having control over the river through the dam may affect its own water supplies.

Why does Ethiopia want this dam?

• Ethiopia believes this dam will generate approximately 6,000 megawatts of electricity when it is done.
• 65% of Ethiopia’s population suffers due to lack of access to electricity.
• This dam will reduce those shortages and help the country’s manufacturing industry.
• The country may also be able to supply electricity to neighbouring nations and earn some revenue in exchange.
• Neighbouring countries like Kenya, Sudan, Eritrea and South Sudan also suffer from electricity shortages.
• If Ethiopia sells electricity to these nations, they may also reap benefits.

Current Scenario

• In the latest developments on this front, Egypt announced that it is willing to resume negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan concerning the dam.
• According to Egypt’s foreign ministry, any agreement would have to take into account the interest of Ethiopia and Sudan, the two countries in the Nile basin that are directly involved in this issue.
• Ethiopia has however proceeded with the first stage of filling the dam saying that it does not need Egypt’s permission to fill the dam.
• In the letter to the UNSC, Egypt also implied that the dam would cause armed conflict between the two countries.

About River Nile

• The Nile is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa.
• It is the longest river in Africa and the disputed longest river in the world as the Brazilian government says that the Amazon River is longer than the Nile.
• It rises south of the Equator and flows northward through northeastern Africa to drain into the Mediterranean Sea. 
• The Nile is about 6,650 km long and its drainage basin covers eleven countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Republic of Sudan, and Egypt.
• In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan.
• The Nile has two major tributaries – the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself.

Significance of River Nile

• It served as the stage for the evolution and decay of advanced civilizations in the ancient world.
• The availability of water from the Nile throughout the year, combined with the area’s high temperatures, makes possible intensive cultivation along its banks.
• The Nile River is also a vital waterway for transport.

Road Ahead

• Despite previous talks, the point of contention hasn’t changed: Egypt and Sudan are concerned about the filling and the operation of the dam.
• Ethiopia continues to insist that the dam is required to meet the needs of its population and has said that downstream water supplies will not be adversely affected.
• Cairo insists that the dam would cut its water supplies — concerning for a country that depends on the Nile for approximately 97% of its drinking water and irrigation supplies.
• Sudan believes that the dam will reduce flooding, but is concerned about the path forward if the negotiations end at a stalemate.