A Nile of denial

Conflict is looming on the Nile’s southern horizon. Following 13 years of fruitless negotiations with Egypt and Sudan over a new Nile Agreement, four of the river’s upstream countries decided to go it alone on May 14. Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda signed a new treaty that calls for equitable water sharing, while Kenya, Congo and Burundi are to follow suit. Ethiopia, source to some 80 percent of all Nile water, wishes to develop its hydroelectric capacities, while countries such as Kenya and Tanzania aim to increase their agricultural output through irrigation. “This agreement benefits all of us and harms none of us,” said Ethiopia’s Minister of Water Resources Asfaw Dingamo. “I strongly believe all Nile Basin countries will sign the agreement.” Minister Dingamo should have known better, as the treaty sent a flood wave of concern further downstream. Egypt has warned numerous times that any developments anywhere along the