Addis Ababa: Ethiopia’s Minister of Water and Energy, Engineer Habtamu Itefa, announced that the Nile River Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) is a backbone and is going to “make big shift toward utilization of water resources.”
CFA, that will enable the establishment of Nile River Basin Commission, has officially entered into force as of last Sunday.
The Minister of Water and Energy, Engineer Habtamu briefed the media today on the entry into force of CFA.
He congratulated the people of Ethiopia, governments and people of Nile Basin countries for this historic and successful achievement.
‘I want to congratulate all Ethiopians and citizens of the Nile Basin member states. This is a wonderful and fruitful achievement for all of us who were demanding for justice and equal rights in utilizing our water resources,’ he stated.
He recalled that previously all laws that we had in the Nile Basin was not inclusive, which was formulated for few citizens, especially on the downstream side. It ignored upstream citizens including Ethiopia and other upstream countries.
‘We have been demanding how we can have fair, reasonable utilization right on our water resource. CFA is a backbone and is going to make big shift toward utilization of water resource,’ the minister underlined.
He explained that we believe there has been injustice in how the Nile has been utilized, mainly from our brothers and downstream side.
‘CFA is getting no harm on no one, and it’s inclusive for the downstream and the upstream needs. That is change and achievement.’
Moreover, he urged all basin countries to join the agreement and faithfully implement its principles.
‘I would like to request all member states, our Egyptian brothers, and our Sudanese brothers. If you have any concern regarding the CFA, this all-inclusive, let’s get in touch, talk about it and utilize it.’
He stated that all countries in the basin can benefit without leaving anyone behind, emphasizing Ethiopia’s commitment to collaborating with both downstream and upstream nations.
The minister noted that Ethiopia is contributing more than 85 percent to Nile Water but “we had no saying at all in the previous time.”
With the CFA, Ethiopians and other upstream riparian countries can now come together to plan for the betterment of their shared interests.
This agreement will serve as a foundation for establishing the Nile River Basin Commission.
The commission will operate independently, supporting development throughout the Nile Basin and facilitating the implementation of projects from upstream to downstream.
CFA has about 15 principles, which can be categorized into three main units.
“The first principle focuses on how we utilize our water for development, second addresses the stewardship of our water resources, ensuring their sustainability for current and future generations and third about information and data sharing among basin countries.”
Recall South Sudan has become the latest country to ratify the CFA, joining Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency