Renaissance of Africa

Africa and the Nile River
Africa is the world’s second largest continent. From these ancient countries the most known are Ethiopia and Egypt. These countries have a rich bonding history; they used to be the same country. In addition they also share the world’s longest river. The Nile River is one of the longest rivers in the world; it is 6853 Km long. The Nile River is a common wealth of ten African countries. The Nile basin countries are Kenya, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, and South Sudan. The Nile has two major tributaries they are the Black/Blue Nile and White Nile. The White Nile comes from Lake Victoria, Tanzania and Black Nile comes from Lake Tana, Ethiopia. The Nile River was given the name “A gift of God” by all the people from the Nile Basin Countries, to portray how important Nile is. Ethiopians call it “Abbay” meaning first, great and enormous. However, Nile was only a gift of God for Egypt about 84 million cubic meter goes to Aswan dam in Egypt and 18.5 million cubic meter goes to Merowe dam annually in Sudan. There is no equal distribution of Nile only two countries have been benefiting from the Nile River for the past centuries.
Treaties of the Nile River
The Anglo-Italian Protocol of April 15, 1891. In this treaty Britain and Italy signed a treaty representing the East African countries. The Treaty between Great Britain and Ethiopia of May 15, 1902. His Majesty the Emperor Menilik II, King of Kings of Ethiopia, signed a treaty that Ethiopia will not perform any type of work across Blue Nile and Lake Tana. The Agreement between Britain and the Government of the Independent State of the Congo on 9th May 1906. Treaty of Congo between Britain and Belgium. Congo an independent country however Belgium signed a treaty with Britain on behalf of Congo. The Tripartite (Britain-France-Italy) Treaty of December 13, 1906. In the treaty Ethiopia don’t have any type of control over the Nile River. The 1925 Exchange of Notes between Britain and Italy Concerning Lake Tana. A treaty between Britain and Italy that was signed in 1919 about Lake Tana. The treaty was clarified in 1925 as Italy will not perform any type of work over the Blue and White Nile that will reduce flow of water for Egypt and Sudan. On the contrary Ethiopia strongly opposed and informed Britain and Italy. Ethiopia brought the issue to the League of Nations that no one has the right to control and rule over Ethiopia’s Lake. The Agreement between Egypt and Anglo-Egyptian Sudan of 7th May 1929. The treaty gave Egypt to control the Nile River and to veto any type of project that reduce Egypt’s benefit. The 1959 Nile Agreement between the Sudan and Egypt for Full Utilization of Nile waters. Treaty between Sudan and Egypt to control the Nile River. This treaty is based on Egypt’s Aswan dam project construction. Egypt can have 55.5 and Sudan 18.5 Billion cubic meters of water annually. In 2010 an agreement between all the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was signed. The NBI was formed in 1991 by all the Nile River basin countries. It took a decay to negotiate about the Nile River and its usage. The Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement was signed in 2010 in Entebbe, Uganda. The agreement benefit all the Nile River basin countries. This treaty was signed by all the Nile basin countries except Sudan and Egypt.
Nile River Dams
Aswan Dam is located in Aswan, Egypt. The construction of Aswan dam cost $ 1 billion, and have the capacity to store 57,940,000 cubic yards of water. Egypt borrowed money form Soviet Union to finish the construction of the dam. The construction of the dam was based on the treaty of 1959 between Egypt and Sudan -which gave eqypt authority to control the Nile River. The dam was inaugurated in January 1971 by the president Anwar Sadat. The construction of Aswan dam gave Egyptian to control the Nile flood. As Egyptian say “For the first time in history, the annual Nile flood can be controlled by man.” Egyptian agriculture start to emerge at the edge of Aswan dam. In addition Egyptian economy highly depend on the Aswan dam.
Merowe Dam, is located in Merowe, Sudan. Merowe have the capacity to store 20% of the Nile River annual flow. The construction of the dam cotton export and protect Sudan from flood. The construction of Merowe dam was proposed by President Gaafar Nimeiri in 1979 but Sudan didn’t find support and fund immediately. The contractors of Merowe dam were China, Germany, and France. The construction of Merowe dam cost 1.2 billion euro. Sudan received Funding from china, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Saudi, Kuwait and Arab fund. The construction of Merowe dam began in 2004 and finished/opened in March 3 2009.
Hidase Dam and benefits to Africa
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Hydropower Dam Project (GERHDP) will be the biggest dam in Africa that will generate more than 6000 megawatts of power. The GERHDP will resolve all these problems ensuring that the people have a sustainable and sanitized way of life. The GERHDP will benefit the downstream Nile countries and Ethiopia has already agreed to sell hydroelectric power for a very low price for the Nile Basin and neighboring countries. According to the grand millennium dam Ethiopia agreed to supply 200 MW for Djibouti, 500 MW for Kenya, and 200 MW for Sudan. The flood happens annually during winter from the beginning of June until the mid of July. The GERHDP will also reduce evaporation of the Nile. According to consulate general of Ethiopia, “The GERHDP will minimize the evaporation loss from dams located in less favorable downstream desert settings. A total of close to 19 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water evaporators from the Aswan High Dam and other dams in Sudan (of this evaporation from Aswan alone amounts to 14.3 BCM) annual.” It will allow the headquarters of African Union - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to create a sanitized and sustain environment. Ethiopia will be able to construct more industries that use electricity as a primary resource. It will allow many Africans to get education with full equipment and resources.
<</http://www.ethiopianconsla.org/>>
<</Http://grandmilleniumdam.net/>>
<</http://www.waterworld.com/articles/wwi/print/volume-29/issue-1/regional-spotlight/ethiopia-impact-of-renaissance-dam/grand-designs-north-africa-impact-of-ethiopia-s-renaissance-dam.html.>>
<</http://www.ethiopians.com/abay/engin.html>>
<</http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/5521/21/Confronting-the-Renaissance-Dam-problem.aspx.>>
<</http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_6306-544-1-30.pdf.>>
<</http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/index.php/opinion/commentary/item/627-why-ethiopia-rejected-the-validity-of-the-1929-and-1959-agreements-regarding-the-nile-river.>>
<</http://www.unocha.org/top-stories/all-stories/sudan-hundreds-thousands-affected-heavy-rains-and-floods.>>

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