The Ethiopian Plateau
The 1891 Anglo Italian Protocol
This was signed on April 15, 1891, between Britain, representing Egypt and the Sudan, and Italy, on behalf of Eritrea. The Protocol was primarily meant for delimitation of the colonial boundary of Britain and Italy in the Sudan and Eritrea.
The 1902 Agreement between Britain and Ethiopia
This was signed on May 15, 1902, between Britain, representing the Sudan, and Ethiopia, to determine the boundary between Ethiopia and the Sudan. Like the 1891 Protocol, this agreement was also meant primarily as a means to provide boundary delimitation. However, it contained a provision relating to the water of the Nile. Ethiopia agreed, under Article III of the agreement, not to construct or permit construction on the Blue Nile and its tributaries, of any works that would arrest their flow, without the prior agreement of the government of Britain.
The 1906 Tripartite Treaty
This was concluded in London on December 13, 1906 between Britain, France, and Italy and dealt with the use of the Nile water in Ethiopia's sub basin. They reached an agreement to safeguard the interest of Great Britain in Ethiopia's sub basin by regulating, without prejudice to Italy's interest, the water of the Nile, and also agreed to protect the interest of Ethiopia.
The 1925 Anglo-¬Italian Agreement
This was signed between Britain and Italy on December 20, 1925 in Rome and dealt with issues of the Nile water. Italy agreed to recognize the prior rights of Egypt and Sudan on the headwater of the Nile and guaranteed not to construct on the headwater and its tributaries any works that might sensibly modify their flow into the main river.
The 1993 Framework for General Cooperation
This was signed on July 1, 1993, in Cairo, between Egypt and Ethiopia. It was the first bilateral framework for cooperation signed between Egypt and Ethiopia regarding the Nile issues, after the colonial period. It stipulated that future negotiations between Ethiopia and Egypt, with respect to the utilization of the water of the Nile, would be based on the rules and principles of international law.
The Equatorial Plateau
The 1906 Anglo-Congolese Agreement
This was signed in London in May 1906 between Great Britain and The Congo. Article III stipulated that no works should be constructed on either the Semliki or the Sangha rivers that would modify their flow into Lake Albert without the prior agreement of Sudan.
The 1929 Agreement between Egypt and Great Britain
This was concluded between Egypt's then Prime Minister Mohammad Mahmud and the British High Commissioner Lord George Lloyd. The agreement took the form of two letters dated May 7, 1929 and a report by the Water Committee, which had been prepared in 1929 and attached thereto.
Britain signed the agreement on behalf of Sudan, Uganda and Tanganyika (present Tanzania), the three of which were countries under British occupation. The most prominent stipulations were that:
• Without the prior agreement of the Egyptian government, no works, either for irrigation or power generation purposes, and no arrangements of any kind should be attempted affecting the Nile, its tributaries or the lakes where it originates in Sudan, or in the other countries under British occupation. No works and/or arrangements were allowed that could reduce the amount of water reaching Egypt, change the date on which it was due or lower its levels in any way that would be harmful to Egypt.
• Egypt's natural and historical rights to waters of the Nile were protected under the agreement.
The 1934 London Agreement
Concluded on November 23, 1964, it was signed by Great Britain on behalf of Tanganyika (present Tanzania) and by Belgium on behalf of Ruanda-Urundi (Rwanda and Burundi) and dealt with the use of the Kagera River.
The 1953 Agreement
Signed between Egypt and Great Britain on behalf of Uganda, the agreement dealt with the establishment of the Owen Reservoir in the spirit of the 1929 Agreement. Britain promised that the building and operation of the power station should by no means affect the amount, change the due date or reduce the level of Nile waters reaching Egypt.
The 1991 Agreement
Signed by President Hosni Mubarak and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who on behalf of his country, expressed respect, in the document, for the 1953 Agreement. This implies that Uganda recognized that 1929 Agreement.
The 1991 Agreement stipulated that water policies affecting Lake Victoria should be discussed by both countries.
Agreements between Egypt and Sudan
The 1929 agreement
Britain signed the agreement on behalf of Sudan, Uganda and Tanganyika (present Tanzania), the three of which were countries under British occupation. The most prominent stipulations were that:
• Without the prior agreement of the Egyptian government, no works, either for irrigation or power generation purposes, and no arrangements of any kind should be attempted affecting the Nile, its tributaries or the lakes where it originates in Sudan, or in the other countries under British occupation. No works and/or arrangements were allowed that could reduce the amount of water reaching Egypt, change the date on which it was due or lower its levels in any way that would be harmful to Egypt.
• Egypt's natural and historical rights to waters of the Nile were protected under the agreement.
The 1959 Agreement
Signed by Egypt and Sudan in November 1959, it protects the former's right to 48 billion meters3 of water a year as well as that of the latter to 4 billion meters3.
The two countries also agreed to the establishment in Egypt of the High Dam and in Sudan of Roseires reservoir (on the Blue Nile).
The Agreement further provides for the sharing by both countries of the 22 billion cubic meters of water that could have been lost to spill and evaporation had it not been for the establishment of the High Dam (Egypt's share is put at 14.5 billion meters3 (bringing the country's total quota to 55.5 billion meters3), Sudan's at 7.5 billion meters3 (its total quota is 18.5 billion meters3)).
Egypt and Sudan moreover agreed to a number of projects which aim at reducing water wasted in Bahr al-Jabal, Bahr al-Zaraf, Bahr al-Ghazal, the Sobat and the White Nile. The amounts saved would be shared equally by the two countries.
Under the Agreement, an organization (The Nile Water Authority) was established jointly by Egypt and Sudan to handle Nile water issues.
Mechanisms of regional cooperation
The Nile Water Authority
The Authority was established under the 1959 Agreement. It carried out the studies of 4 projects, all of which were meant to be built in Sudan, and without putting Nile source countries to any risk. The projects aimed at saving up to 18 billion meters3 of water a year. They are:
- The Jonglei Canal project - Phase I
- The Jonglei Canal project - Phase II
- The Mashar project
- The Bahr al-Ghazal project
The Hydro-Met project
Launched in 1967, the project studies the meteorological and hydraulic conditions in the equatorial lakes. Participating are the following riparian states: Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo (formerly Zaire) and Ethiopia as an observer.
Under the project, and funded by the UN Development Program and the World Meteorological Organization, monitoring stations were set up around Lakes Victoria, Kyoga and Albert.
The Undugu Gathering
Proposed by Egypt, the idea of the Undugu (brotherhood in Swahili) gathering was first proposed by Egypt and was supported by Zaire and Sudan. The group embraced most Nile-basin countries in eastern and central Africa.
Launched in Khartoum, Sudan in November 1984, it aims at:
- Coordinating the stances of member states on regional issues.
- Promoting cooperation in the area of development.
- Exchanging expertise.
- Implementing the Lagos 1980 Economic Plan.
- Promoting economic integration between member states.
The group, however, faced a number of obstacles, the most prominent being:
- Absence of enough funding.
- Competition between Ethiopia and Sudan over hosting the Monitoring Committee.
The TECCONILE group
In 1992 the Council of Ministers (Nile-COM) of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin States launched an initiative to promote co-operation and development in the Basin. Six of the riparian countries - the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R. Congo), Egypt, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda - formed the Technical Co-operation Committee for the Promotion of the Development and Environmental Protection of the Nile Basin (TECCONILE). The other four riparian states participated as observers.
The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)
Many attempts have been made to try and establish a cooperation of the countries, which depend on the resources of the Nile. Since some countries are more heavily dependent on the river than others, and have a larger population density along the river, thus it was difficult for them to unite, due to acute conflict of interest. The only way each country could expect to solve their high poverty rate, however, was by joining together with all the riparian states to harness the resources of the river. Because all the countries through which the Nile flows were involved in the NBI, it has been more successful than the previous attempts to distribute and control the resources of the Nile. Cooperation is the key term, especially since some countries will have to endure less flow so that others can enjoy more and reduce levels of poverty.
It was not until 1992 that there was a meeting of the water ministers from six of the countries into which the basin empties. At the first meeting, six countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda) formed the Technical Co-operation Committee for the Promotion of the Development and Environmental Protection of the Nile Basin (TECCONILE). The other four states choose only to partake as observers. Following the establishment of TECCONILE, ten successive conferences were planned so that countries could hold informal talks about the initiative, and in 1995, the Nile River Basin action plan was developed.
In 1997, the World Bank, the UNDP and the CIDA signed on to become facilitators of dialogue between the Basin countries. Within a year, all the countries in which the basin empties agreed to engage in dialogue about the Nile, its resources and sustainability. This process was officially named the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) in May of 1999.
In 2000, a Panel of Experts (made up of a group of senior government lawyers and water resource experts from each country in the basin) developed a plan to institute specific framework for the NBI, which has been the criteria for the countries since then. Although there are more problems with the NBI to be worked out, the goals and initiatives are complete.
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