Food & Climate
Will the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), which is known by Entebbe Agreement, officially come into force on October 13, 2024, while the tension between Egypt and Ethiopia about Grand Renaissance Dam continuous?
Although the fifth filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was ended and water has been starting to flow to Egypt after opening the upper spillway gates of the dam, but Cairo still facing dangerous mater, that Entebbe Agreement threats its historical share of the Nile River water, according information that “Food & Climate” platform collected.
Entebbe Agreement and Renaissance Dam
Entebbe Agreement was concluded in 2010. It imposes a legal framework for resolving disputes and conflicts, ends the historical quotas of Egypt and Sudan, imposes a redistribution of water, and allows upstream countries to establish water projects without agreement with downstream countries, which Egypt and Sudan reject.
On July 25, 2024, 12 years after South Sudan signed the Entebbe Agreement, the Juba Parliament unanimously approved the ratification of the agreement, becoming the sixth country to ratify it, and thus entering into force under Article 43 thereof, which stipulates that it shall be activated 60 days after the sixth country deposits its ratification with the African Union.
So, Mohamed Hegazy, former assistant to the Egyptian foreign minister, wrote an article at “Ahram online” warning from this.
He said: “the ratification of the Entebbe Agreement on the Nile River Basin by the government of South Sudan is a negative development that has aggravated tensions across the region”.
The South Sudanese parliament’s decision to ratify the Entebbe Agreement has been described as a breach of the protocols and ethics of bilateral relations. The vote occurred immediately after a visit by the Egyptian minister of irrigation to Juba, resulting in important agreements to serve the people of South Sudan, he added.
Now that the agreement has been ratified by the South Sudanese parliament, it must be submitted to the president for his signature. In other words, its provisions cannot come into force until it is signed by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. President William Ruto has also yet to sign the agreement into law in Kenya, even though it has been ratified by the Kenyan parliament, Hegazy explained.
Egypt contributes 0%
While Egyptian minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty has directed a letter to the president of the United Nations Security Council concerning Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s recent remarks on the fifth phase of filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in September, his Ethiopian counterpart sent a letter to UN last week.
He said: “We contribute 85% of the Nile’s water, while Egypt contributes 0%. Ethiopia calls on Egypt to immediately stop destabilizing Africa. The Entebbe Agreement will come into effect as of October 13, 2024”.
In contrast, Badr Abdelatty has emphasized Egypt’s right to uphold its water security in the face of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and to protect its interests in accordance with international law.
He said to “Ashark” TV on September 22: “We are a nation that honors its commitments, a responsible state,”, emphasizing that Egypt only deploys forces abroad under United Nations mandates and peacekeeping operations.
“However, Egypt is also fully capable of protecting its water interests and security. Should harm arise, we will defend our interests unequivocally, given that they concern the well-being, security, and stability of over 110 million people,” he declared.
“We cannot jeopardize the interests of this esteemed nation for the whims of any party here or there,” Abdelatty added.
The foreign minister attributed the cessation of all negotiation avenues between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia regarding the GERD since 2023 to Ethiopia’s “evasion and bad-faith negotiations.”
Abdelatty pointed out that despite 13 years of negotiations, no results were achieved, with Ethiopia leveraging the talks to impose a fait accompli and advance its dam construction agenda.
“Egypt is not helpless in this issue, stressing that the Egyptian state will announce everything at the appropriate time” he said today, according to local media.
And he stressed that there are measures that Egypt is taking in accordance with international law to defend its rights if harm occurs.