Book review. Yacob Arsano: 'Ethiopia and the Nile'
In his thesis "Ethiopia and the Nile", Yacob Arsano , currently dean at Addis Ababa Faculty of Political Science and International Relations, discusses the national and regional dilemmas of hydro-politics in the Eastern Nile Basin countries of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt . At the national level, the study highlights two issues: the dilemma between the need to develop the available water resources to overcome the debilitating poverty on the one hand, and the risk of limited institutional and financial capacity to develop such water resources on the other. At the regional level, the author states that the shared waters and common cultural heritage unify the peoples of the Eastern Nile basin, while the colonial legacy, vestiges of the Cold War era, and unilateral and nationalistic strategies over water resource development have led to regional tensions and incompatible legal doctrines. The study traces the historical development that explains the present day situation, in view to understanding the dilemmas and highlighting ways to overcome them.
Arsano states that the Nile Basin states have accepted a shared vision on the cooperative utilisation and management of the Nile waters, through the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) . They have agreed to work out an action plan towards establishing and enhancing shared benefits through multi-purpose projects on the shared waters of the Nile. Quite a few rudimentary programs have been laid down and facilitation offices and organisational structures have been established. The above are the key factors for positive developments in the Nile Basin. (Norway is a strong supporter of studies to develop hydropower development on the Blue Nile).
On the other hand, there is a lingering problem that the Nile basin states have not been able to establish a legal and institutional mechanism to support and give shape to the inter-riparian cooperative efforts. The riparian states will have yet to establish confidence and trust in one another to fully cooperate under a
Arsano does not see any risk of "water wars" within and between states in the Nile Basin on account of shared waters of the Nile. Considering that the waters are shared and always will be, the riparian countries cannot afford to go to an unwinnable war. To the contrary, shared waters can better serve as catalyst for cooperation rather than conflict. Arsano believes the Nile Basin Initiative has been able to bring the riparian states on board for dialogue towards establishing plans for cooperative utilisation and management of the water resources, and to make an effort towards establishing a legal /institutional framework. The NBI can be an appropriate mechanism when it is 'owned' and financially supported by the riparian states. NBI's sustainability depends on its independence and internal dynamics.
A copy of the book can probably be ordered from Europe. The author told the Embassy that all the copies ordered to the Ethiopian bookshelves, by an irony, has been lost in transit in Djibouti. Yacob Arsano has been numerous times to Norway and cooperates closely with professor Terje Tvedt on the Nile Basin Research Programme, a subsidary of NBI funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Yacob Arsano
Center for Security Studies, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
ISBN 3905696142, 9783905696141