Egypt wants to rejoin Nile Basin Initiative

Egypt has requested its membership to the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) be reinstated, a senior Ethiopian official said yesterday.

The Ethiopian News Agency reported the country’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Motuma Mekassa saying that Egypt submitted a request during the 24th meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Nile Basin Initiative, which was held in July in Uganda, but that a decision will be made in the future.

Egypt froze its participation in the Nile Basin Initiative since 2010 when Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania signed a new treaty on equitable sharing of Nile waters.

Burundi and Kenya later also inked the deal which stripped Egypt of its power to veto upstream irrigation and hydropower projects.

Mekassa stressed that his country’s position is “clear and firm” and that it refuses to give up on its right to a fair share of Nile water.

Nile River Basin covers territories in Egypt, Sudan, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania