ASSESSMENTS

Egypt Girds Itself for a Loss of Power Over the Nile

Dec 18, 2017 | 09:00 GMT

Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudanese-Ethiopian border is tentatively scheduled to end in late 2018.

Construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile near the Sudanese-Ethiopian border is tentatively scheduled to end in late 2018. Egypt fears the dam will decrease its Nile River water supply.

(ZACHARIAS ABUBEKER/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • Egypt will continue to maintain an aggressive tone against Ethiopia on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in an attempt to force Ethiopia to capitulate to Cairo's demands, but the dam will be completed.
  • Over the past decade, upstream states have shifted the balance of power in Nile River politics and are beginning to challenge Egypt's leverage over the use of the river's resources.
  • Egypt will be forced to come back to the negotiating table with Ethiopia because once the dam is built, Egypt must coordinate its dam operations with Ethiopia's as the new reservoir is filled.

It is no understatement that the Nile River is Egypt's lifeblood. Since antiquity, the Nile has allowed a civilization to flourish along its banks and in its delta. It should be no surprise, therefore, that Egypt's dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile River's most important tributary continues to vex Cairo at it exhausts all diplomatic avenues to ensure that its water supply remains secure....

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