Thursday, March 18, 2004
By William Maclean, Reuters

NAIROBI, Kenya — Poor nations that are home to some of Africa's most arid corners will push for a fairer share of Nile waters Thursday, exploring joint ventures in energy and irrigation to spread the river's bounty more equitably.

Organizers of the meeting of water ministers from 10 Nile Basin countries have played down reports that they will negotiate a replacement to a controversial colonial-era treaty that gives Egypt control of the river.

But they will review cross-border irrigation, power, and drainage projects that aim to build interdependence among countries that have long competed for Nile water and lessen tensions between East and North Africa over the mighty river.

Kenyan Water Minister Martha Karua, chairwoman of the 10-country Nile Basin Initiative that aims for more a equitable share of Nile waters, dismissed reports of tension between East Africa and Egypt over the river.

"We are very far from friction," she said. "I see Egypt as one of our partners in the Nile Basin Initiative and I see it as a friend of my country and the other riparian states."

Impoverished sub-Saharan African countries have long pushed for a fairer use of the river among Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Uganda, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.

The rapidly growing nations dislike a colonial-era pact giving effective control of the 4,189-mile-long Nile and its African origins to Egyptian users far downstream.

Egyptian Veto

Under the 1929 accord between Egypt and Britain, acting on behalf of its then east African colonies, Egypt can veto any use of Lake Victoria water it feels threatens levels in the Nile.

Egypt is taking part in the negotiations on a new arrangement but warns it will need even more Nile water after 2017 because of population growth.

Karua dismissed reports in Western and East African media that diplomatic ties were worsening between sub-Saharan Africa and Egypt over the Nile.

Some commentators have said governments in East Africa fear Cairo will use diplomatic and military means to pressure upstream nations to moderate their demands, with some newspapers going so far as to print analyses of Egypt's military firepower.

"This is a creation of the press. I am not nervous at all," said Karua, whose country has become a vigorous campaigner for reform of the 1929 treaty.

Kenya, which like Tanzania suffers recurrent droughts due to deforestation, soil erosion, and erratic rainfall, says the treaty should be reformed to allow it to expand irrigation and develop hydroelectric plants.

Egyptian officials say they broadly agree but add that sub-Saharan Africa, with the lion's share of rainfall among Nile Basin nations, will not solve the problem by simply diverting more Nile water for its own use.

Instead what it badly needs is the investment and expertise to install more watershed management, irrigation, and water storage systems to maximize its precious rainwater, said Abdel-Fattah Metawie, head of the Nile Water Sector at Egypt's Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry.

"We are not the bad guys. Egypt is the good guy, as are all the Nile Basin countries, and we can all win."

The Nile countries will use the meeting to seek consensus on crucial statistics on rainfall and river volumes used by a separate negotiating committee trying to create a so-called "win-win" framework governing the Nile's use, officials say.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry in Cairo)