Will Egypt seek Nile River agreement with upstream countries?
In an interview with Al-Monitor, executive director of the Nile Basin Initiative, John Rao Nyaoro, discusses Egypt’s shift on the Entebbe Agreement and negotiations to form a regional commission.
Five years into the escalation of Egypt's political and legal dispute with upstream countries — which erupted over the signing of the Entebbe Agreement on the Nile Basin, leading Egypt to freeze its membership in the Nile Basin Initiative — and controversy continues to shroud the likelihood of restoring negotiations. Egypt has expressed reservations over three debatable articles in the agreement, mainly water security, which is believed to deprive Egypt of its historical annual share of the Nile's water. However, Egypt is currently inclined toward rapprochement with upstream countries.
As part of the preparations for the June 2015 meeting of the Nile Council of Ministers, Al-Monitor met with John Rao Nyaoro, the executive director of the Nile Basin Initiative, and discussed the consequences of the dispute between Egypt and upstream countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, and the likelihood of restoring negotiations to solve outstanding issues.
Below is the full transcript of the interview:
Al-Monitor: Do you believe that the Nile Basin Initiative, as a regional institutional entity, remains capable of resolving the water issues and challenges facing Nile riparian states?
