GERD: A key pillar in poverty alleviation schemes
By Gemeda Challa
The use of trans-boundary Rivers has become so controversial in some countries around the world. The experiences in countries sharing rivers also indicate this fact. At the beginning of many of the Dams in different countries of the world like Turkey, United States of America and China had different controversies by downstream countries.
In Africa, there are many river basins and some of them are trans-boundary. One of the trans-boundary river basins that extend over the territories of several countries is the Nile River basin. The Nile river is the longest river in the world and the total area of the river basin is more than 3,349,000 Km and the basin is a home to around 160 million people, (UNESCO, 2006).
The Nile basin is characterized by environmental degradation, extreme poverty, high population growth and political instability and some of the World’s poorest nations found in this area.
There are different opportunities that the major contributor of the Nile Waters, Ethiopia, and the downstream countries the Sudan and Egypt could share in connection to the huge hydropower dam under construction in Ethiopia. Three of the countries should work to enhance cooperation comprehending the significance of common resource benefit-sharing.
It will be possible for these countries to build econometric model that can show the significance and imprecations on the three countries’ economy of hydroelectric power generation. Nowadays many scholars agreed that the three countries should comprehend whether there exists true correlation between hydroelectric power generations in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt should honestly realize the electric consumption of downstream countries and the current explanation of hydroelectric power generation in Ethiopia. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Hydro-electric dam will respond and satisfy the demand of coming economic integration of the countries in the basin particularly among the three countries.
The result of the econometric estimation suggests that there exist a strong and positive trend correlation between the country’s GDP and the hydroelectric power consumption. This shows the hydroelectric power consumption of the country is economic derived consumption.
Furthermore, the econometric analysis showed that the current explanation of hydroelectric power generation by the government of the country is unable to respond and satisfy the coming economic growth and support the balance of payment of the country.
From our deep econometric modeling and estimation, we recommend that it is a true and justifiable strategy to cooperate for mutual benefit and support hydropower dams in Ethiopia could be exploited and enhance irrigation in both downstream countries: the Sudan and Egypt.
Currently, Ethiopia is fully committed to sharing relevant information on the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with Egypt and Sudan to help address concerns and resolve misunderstandings.
During the 16th Tripartite National Committee meeting of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, the Minister also added that the visit to the Dam has offered the Tripartite National Committee to insight fully into the design and construction of the dam and related structures. The collective visit is also historical in a sense and opens more opportunities for dialogue, transparency and exchange of information.
The notion in Ethiopia is a win-win approach. The country’s commitment is based on the key principles of mutual benefit, equitable utilization and cooperation with no significant harm to one another.
Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt can avoid any further delay in the work of the consultant in all the required procedures for finalizing the studies. This will pave the way for the three countries to use the outcomes of these studies. It is obvious that the Sudanese government is aware of the fact that the Blue Nile links populations of the three countries and supports the incomes and livelihoods, and provides invaluable ecosystem services for millions of people.
The Blue Nile provides generous opportunities for cooperation and promotion of regional peace and security as well as sustainable economic growth.
Egypt has long been opposed to the dam over fears that it would reduce water downstream. Sudan, on the other hand, is convinced that the giant reservoir would regulate the flow of water and prevent flooding.
So far, the GERD project, which is expected to hold 74 billion cubic meters of water, has been progressing as per its schedule. Ethiopia hopes it will be able to export electricity generated by the dam to downstream countries and it repeatedly expressed that the dam will not have any negative impact on Egypt or Sudan.
Ethiopia is one of the populous countries in Africa. Poverty traps prevail in different forms in the country. In its attempt to pull itself out of poverty, the government and people of Ethiopia have been planning to harness their natural resources. The Nile River is one of these resources that the country has endowed with. That is why it has launched the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile River.
Ethiopia has twelve major river basins, including the Blue Nile. Its riparian systems, combined with its eleven major lakes, make Ethiopia the ‘water tower’ of Northeast Africa. Despite this ample resource, the country has never utilized its resource meaningfully. It is in recent years that it began to develop such dams so as to enhance its economic development and assist its poverty alleviation strategies.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance is one of the most crucial factors to meet the poverty alleviation schemes of the country. That is why Ethiopia has been investing on it a large amount of finance and working it day in day out without any interruption. It is, therefore, so crucial for the downstream country Egypt to comprehend all the benefits the basin countries could enjoy from the completion of the Grand Renaissance Dam and cooperate with Ethiopia and Sudan.