The Nile Basin

As mentioned in my previous blog post, key river basins across Africa prove vital for the stability of water security across different nations in Africa. Particular river basins are considerably more valuable than others as some lie between multiple different countries and may ensue political conflicts on sustainable exploitation and distribution. 

The River Nile

The Nile river is considered the longest river in the world, passing through 11 countries southwardly from Egypt. It spans over 6650km, passing through Burundi, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) (Figure 1). 

 Figure 1: Map of Nile River Basin (Source) 

The Nile produces an approximate annual flow of 84 billion cubic metres, of which is a source of water for 450 million citizens across all 11 neighbouring regions in the area. Over half of this population of people are solely reliant on the Nile for their source of food and water security. This already high population is expected to double in the next 25 years, increasing the unprecedented pressure on the basin as it is the only renewable source of water in the region (Nunzio, 2013). This increase in reliance could deplete its efficacy for not only the locals, but for industrial and agricultural use. Additionally, with the impacts of climate change, floods are also common in the area, adding further need for intervention.

Figure 2: The Aswan Dam (Source) 

Incorporation of the Aswan Dam

The Aswan dam (Figure 2) was originally built in 1902 to control flooding over the floodplain since over-saturation caused damage to the local cropland, and low water levels would cause widespread drought and famine. However, during the flood season, the water would provide natural nutrients and minerals, that would regularly enrich the soil on the delta/floodplain. This proved that the Nile delta was vital for Egyptian agriculture and cotton industry; hence in 1960, the high Aswan dam was built in the aim to further control of flooding, and more efficient water storage for irrigation and hydroelectricity, making it a pivotal move during the Egyptian industrialisation period in the 1960s (Tawfik, 2019).  

In politics, the Aswan dam was originally sought by the USSR, UK and the US, due to its high value. But during this time the Cold war and the intra-Arab tensions in the Suez Canal made the negotiations on the project difficult to be feasible. Eventually, in 1958, the USSR offered $1.12 billion loan for the construction of the dam, of which Nasser accepted, in a move that was strategic for the Soviet Union at the time to win influence in the region (Ice, 2020). The, project itself proved highly successful, producing 55 cubic kilometres of water per year, some of which (46 cubic kilometres) are diverted into the irrigation canals. 336,000 km of the Nile delta benefits from the higher volumes of water, producing 1.8 crops per year on average; making the irrigation efficiency an estimated 83% on average. 

 

What does this mean for the Transboundary nations?

As mentioned before, the Nile river runs through many nations of which are dependent on it as a source of water. With populations rapidly expanding upstream, the demand for water is much higher. Ethiopia and Uganda's population growth is at 2.9% and 3.1%; per year, an extremely high rate. With the rise in population, stronger economic growth also comes in hand, in turn, facilitating more development of infrastructure along the river basin. For example, Ethiopia has constructed a hydroelectric $4.7 billion dam (GERD), with a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters and an annual output of 6000 megawatts. Due to this breakthrough development, Ethiopia has become a prime exporter of electricity to other upstream nations including Kenya, Sudan and Uganda (Nunzio, 2013). This is an example of how the basin developments have assisted other nations in general economic and sustainable growth both directly and indirectly; however, it is also important to know that further dam and reservoir construction upstream causes issues downstream of the river, as less water will be available, causing political controversy for the countries downstream such as Egypt and Sudan where the GERD dam could be argued as a political statement of power against the powerful Egyptian Government, "one-upping" their Aswan Dam. 

 

While this blog was an insight into the larger-scale political controversies of water management in major areas in Africa, my next blog will be looking more at the sanitation of water and its mitigation strategies in more focused regions in Africa.