GERD is Ethiopia’s Suez Canal

Edited by Clarke Dhana — Co-founder at Smile

In addition to the financial support from the Soviet Union, the Suez Canal has provided the financial capability to Egypt that allowed them to build a megaproject like the Aswan Dam. In my previous article, I have mentioned how the Aswan Dam (+other electric sources) enabled 100% of the Egyptian population access to electricity, efficient water for agriculture, tourism and more.

On the other side of the Nile, GERD 100% owned and financed by the Ethiopian people is near its completion. Just like the Suez Canal built today’s modern Egypt, the GERD is expected to solve Ethiopia’s most pressing problems of poverty and famine. The GERD provides the solution not only bringing light to Ethiopia but other nations as well. Seventy million individuals stand to benefit from GERD internationally, particularly East African nations in Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. GERD is not fueling a country; it is fueling the entire region.

What Ethiopia is doing with the GERD now is similar to what Egypt did in 1956 when Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal from the British and France by making it Egypt’s public property. This article aims to teach the world and fellow Ethiopians from Egypt’s brave history: the initiatives and sacrifices that the Egyptian government and the great people of Egypt made to protect their country’s national interest.

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal is a man-made artificial sea-level waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean via the Red Sea. The Suez Canal has drastically shortened the distance from 19,800 k.m. to — 11,600k.m for vessels that travel from Europe to Asia (figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Old route and Suez Canal

History — Suez Canal:

In the 1850s, Khedive Said Pasha (the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan), granted Ferdinand de Lesseps (French diplomat) rights to create the Suez Canal Company (today is known as the Suez Canal Authority) to construct the Suez Canal. The project was spearheaded by Linant de Bellefonds, a French Explorer and engineer that confirmed the plausibility of the project from his research. With Pasha’s blessing, the Suez Canal Company was given a 99-year lease over the waterway and its surroundings. The construction planning started in 1854 and was backed by French Emperor Napoleon III.

Figure 1.2 (Khedive Said Pasha), (Ferdinand de Lesseps), (Linat de Bellefonds), (Emperor Napoleon III)

The construction of the canal presented an opportunity to transform the maritime trade industry. However, the project was immediately met with resistance from Britain that viewed the canal as an intentional threat to Britain’s maritime trade dominance. The British ambassador to France described support for the canal as national suicide. British press termed it “A flagrant robbery got up to despoil the simple people.” Simply put, the British saw the whole scheme as a foolish rip-off. Bellefonds responded by publicly defending the Suez Canal project sparking controversy in Britain with the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, and the famous railway engineer, Robert Stephenson, who eventually condemned the Suez Canal project in the British parliament.

Construction, control and operations of — Suez Canal:

Despite the British opposition, in 1859 construction began and continued over ten years, involving 1.5 million workers, the majority believed to be slaves. The project resulted in tens of thousands of deaths under poor working conditions

During construction, Britain and France ruled Egypt, and the development was met with obstacles from colonial rebellion, limited technology and political instability. Nonetheless, the canal was completed at a devastating 100 million USD cost by 1869 — which was a massive amount of money during the time.

The Suez Canal would profoundly impact trade, but in its early years, the number of vessels in the passage was lower than anticipated resulting in a financial crisis. Following the immediate crisis, Pasha and other shareholders rushed to sell their shares of the Suez Canal Company. Despite Britain’s initial opposition and reluctance to invest in the canal, they swept up 44% of the company shares making France the main shareholder followed by Britain.

The canal became important to Britain since it connected to much of the British colonies. When Egypt achieved independence in 1922, Britain wasted no time securing its control over the canal. To do this, they signed off control of the river Nile on behalf of their East African colonies to Egypt in the 1929 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty to maintain a good rapport with the country and protect their Canal interests. This was followed by the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian treaty allowing British troops to remain in the Suez Canal zone until 1956.

After the end of World War II, in 1951 Egypt withdrew from the “1936 Anglo-Egyptian treaty” by condemning it as colonial. After intense negotiation, in 1956, the British withdrew their troops from the Suez Canal by handing over Egypt’s control to the Government of Egypt, under the leadership of President Gamal Abdel Nasser (figure 1.3).

Figure 1.3 Former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser

Debate: Egypt condemned the “1936 Anglo-Egyptian treaty” because it’s a treaty drawn during the colonial era, and Egypt decided to get out of it. By this logic, the “1929 Anglo-Egyptian treaty” also should be revised, since it is also a colonial-era treaty that the upper Nile basin countries signed before they achieved independence? Even though Ethiopia didn’t sign the “1929 Anglo-Egyptian treaty” and is not subjected to it, it saddens me to see the upper Nile basin countries suffer and limitation from developing a project on the Nile due to colonial agreement treaty.

Funding rejection and Egypt’s brave move:

During the cold war, President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s anti-imperialist agenda gave him the approval of the Soviet Union communist leader Nikita Khrushchev (figure 1.4).

Figure 1.4 Soviet Union communist leader Nikita Khrushchev and President Gamal Abdel Nasser

Nassar wanted to keep a strong relationship with both the United States (US) and the Soviet Union, which was difficult during the Cold War era. The US was not happy with Egypt and the Soviet Union’s relationship because of Cold War tensions. Thus, in 1956 along with Britain, the United States withdrew financial support that was promised to improve the Suez Canal and the construction of the Aswan Dam.

In July 1956, with financial and arms support from the Soviet Union, Egypt retaliated against the US and Britain by taking over the Suez Canal and nationalizing it to make up for the promised cash, making the Suez Canal Egypt Public Property. Nassar believed the canal’s passage fee would fully finance Egypt’s infrastructure development, specifically, the Aswan Dam which it did, presenting a solution to Egypt’s problem. Nasser’s Suez Canal nationalization earned him his excellent reputation amongst Egyptian people and the Arab world (figure 1.5).

Figure 1.5 President Gamal Abdel Nasser celebrated among Egyptians and the Arab world

However, this move angered the British, French and the Americans. Nassar also angered Israelis next by banning all Israeli ships passing through the canal and closed the straits of Tiran (a body of water that links Israel with the Red Sea). A move I do not support since I believe all-natural water bodies should be used fairly and equally. The occurrence became known as the Suez Crisis.

The Price Egypt paid:

Angered by Egypt’s Suez Canal nationalization, French prime minister, Guy Mollet, summoned Anthony Eden (British prime minister) and David Ben-Gurion (the Israeli prime minister) to devise a plan to take the canal back. The plan was for Israel to capture Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Britain and France to seize the Suez Canal and the area around, under the pretext of restoring order to the region.

Figure 1.6 (Guy Mollet), (Anthony Eden), (David Ben-Gurion)

On October 29 1956, Israel attacked Egypt followed by French and British forces, which took control of the area around the Suez Canal. The situation in Egypt escalated quickly.

Figure 1.7 News headlines about Egypt Invasion by England, France and Israel

On November 6 1956, Khrushchev threatened to nuke Western Europe if Britain, Israel and French forces did not withdraw their troops from Egypt. US President Eisenhower warned Khrushchev to avoid involvement in Egypt. Nonetheless, the US was furious that the three nations (Israel, Britain and France) had excluded them in their plan to take over the Suez Canal and resultantly threatened the three countries with economic sanctions if they did not withdraw from Egypt.

Figure 1.8 Soviet Union Nuclear Misael

Moreover, Lester Bowles Pearson, a Canadian scholar organized the United Nations Security Council to resolve the Suez crisis. Which also put immense pressure on Britain, France and Israel.

Figure 1.9 United Nations Security Council meeting to solve the Suez crisis

December 23, 1956, Britain and France withdrew all their troops followed Israel by March 1957 ending the Suez Canal crisis with Egypt’s victory. Even though the Suez Canal crisis ended in less than a year, the aftermath was long-lasting (figure 1.10). Immediately UN peacekeeping forces entered Egypt to oversee the cease-fire and restore order and peace in the region. Lester Bowles Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis. Moreover, Britain and France saw their influence in the world, as superpower, diminish before their eyes. The Suez Canal crisis revealed who the real superpowers were during that time: The United States and the Soviet Union.

Today’s world superpower nations are the United States, Russia and China.

Figure 1.10 Suez crisis aftermath

So how did the Suez Canal benefit Egypt?

1. As mentioned earlier, additional to the funding from the Soviet Union, the Suez Canal financed the Aswan dam (and other electric plants) which enabled:

• 100% access to electricity to the entire Egyptian population
• controlled flooding
• Provided enough water reserve for irrigation.

2. The majority of the world’s goods are transported via sea, the Suez Canal greatly reduces the time and cost of transporting goods for nations making world trade much faster than it used to be. Thus, the Suez Canal is one of Egypt’s major sources of foreign currency reserve and it generates more than +5 billion USD a year. The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) stated:

“Navigation movement at the Suez Canal is regular and within normal rates and wasn’t affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus,” Osama Rabie said in a statement. He added that the navigation of ships in the international waterway rose by 9.6% in April 2020, recording 1,731 vessels passing in the two sides, compared with 1,580 ships during the same month a year earlier.

Source:

History Channel, Suez Canal Authority, The Suez Crisis, 1956. Office of the Historian, Marin Insight — A Brief History of the Suez Canal, History Channel 2,

GERD

The history of GERD is not as complicated as the Suez Canal and it is an ongoing process.

Figure 2.1 GERD

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam known as GERD is Ethiopia’s mega hydroelectric dam project on the Blue Nile located in Ethiopia, near to the border with Sudan. The dam can generate 6000 M.W. However, according to Dr Eng. Seleshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity who is in charge of the GERD project said in the interview with Walta that the GERD would generate a guaranteed 5150 M.W. Dr Eng. Seleshi Bekele also explained that efficiency is the reason why the GERD will produce 5150 M.W instead of 6000 M.W. Find the link below to Dr Eng. Seleshi Bekele’s interview to understand what efficiency means. Watch the interview below.

V1: Interview with Dr Eng. Seleshi Bekele

History- GERD:

The 1929 colonial agreement treaty between Britain and Egypt, and the 1959 bilateral agreement treaty between Egypt and Sudan was signed, before the upper Nile river countries achieved independence namely:

• Tanzania (1961)
• Uganda (1962)
• Rwanda (1962)
• Burundi (1962)
• Kenya (1963)
• Ethiopia was excluded from the deal because it was never colonized

The treaty allocated Egypt 55.5 billion cubic meters, Sudan 18.5 billion cubic meters to aid their Nile projects and the remaining 10 billion cubic meters taking into account evaporation. This left nothing for the upstream countries where the water comes from. The treaty also gave Egypt veto power over all upper stream countries’ projects and constructions on the Nile River. Which means that if the upper Nile river countries want to construct a project on the Nile, they require approval from Egypt.

Note: The Nile has two tributaries, the Blue Nile and the White Nile. The White Nile originates from Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea and Kenya. They contribute 15% of the river Nile that flows to Egypt and Sudan, while the Blue Nile originates from Ethiopia and contributes 85% of the water that flows to Egypt and Sudan.

Emperor Haile Selassie, angered by the unfair treaty, retaliated and ended a 1,600-year-long relationship between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria. That same year Selassie launched a 10 million USD American led research entitled “Land and Water resource of the Blue Nile Basin: Ethiopia”. The 7th volume of the research was completed in 1964, which marked the beginning of Ethiopia’s mission to build a dam on the Nile.

Figure 2.2 Emperor Haile Selassie visiting the Nile dam project

Egypt, under the leadership of Gamal Abdel Nasser, retaliated against Selassie by supporting the armed rebellion in the Northern part of Ethiopia creating civil war and political unrest in the country, preventing Ethiopia from building a dam on the Nile. During that era, the people of Ethiopia were unaware of the dam’s utility and potential, but Egypt was.

Figure 2.3 Emperor Haile Selassie Diary

“Ethiopians do not know the value of their water resources; they have yet to realize it.”

Dr. Seleshi Bekele. Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Ethiopia

At the same time, Gamal Abdel Nasser was busy building the Aswan Dam on the Nile River to satisfy Egypt’s need for electricity, water (for irrigation) and flood control which was a key factor for Egypt’s industrialization. Egypt did not consult any upper stream countries about building the great Aswan Dam on the Nile, which was completed in 1970.

Figure 2.4 Emperor Haile Selassie Diary

Fast forward to 2011, Ethiopian former late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi re-initiated the unrealized Nile dam project that Selassie started, officially. The dam was named The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, and it required 4.8 billion USD in funding, which is a massive amount of money for a country like Ethiopia. Just like old times, Egypt was highly against the project.

Figure 2.5 Ethiopian former late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and Re-initiation of the Nile dam project

However, colonial treaties should be redundant in post-colonial eras. Also, Ethiopia, as an uncolonised country, was never part of any treaty regarding its role and rights on the Nile. Thus, legally Ethiopia is not bound by any agreement and has not violated any agreements. This also means that Ethiopia does not need to consult or to seek approval for constructing a project on the Nile as long as it is in Ethiopian territory. Thus, despite Egypt’s opposition, Ethiopia made it clear to the world that it seeks an equal share of the Nile and is highly against Egypt’s monopoly of the Nile River.

Funding rejection and Ethiopia’s brave move:

Constructing the GERD was expensive and financial assistance was needed, but the World Bank and the IMF were not willing to provide any support. Many Ethiopians are under the impression that Egypt played a role in stifling funding from the World Bank and IMF. Marwa Maziad — an Egyptian Middle east researcher told Al Jazeera how Egypt stopped the World Bank and the IMF from providing funding to the GERD project. Watch the interview below:

V2: Egyptian reporter claiming Egypt's role in stifling funding for the GERD

Despite funding rejection, Ethiopia made the brave decision of building the dam with her own money. The rich, the poor, the farmer, the student and even the homeless contributed what they have. Unlike the other +60% of the Ethiopian population, I was lucky to be born in a middle-income family, and I had the privilege to drink Coca-Cola, eat biscuits (Chornakae) and Jelati after school at least once every two weeks (figure 2.4). I was a child and didn’t understand much about the dam, but I knew that I was tired of electricity disruption in my household. There was no electricity 3–4 days a week, and I lived in the capital city (power goes off frequently even in 2020). So, through my school years, I contributed 10 Birr every month and sometimes biweekly from the money that my parents gave me to treat myself. Ethiopians everywhere joined in and continue to contribute and intend to do so until we see the return on our investments.

Figure 2.6 Chornakae and Jelati

Construction and control of — GERD:

After solving funding issues, the construction of the GERD started officially in 2011, as mentioned earlier. Egypt was highly against it but preoccupied with the Arab Spring and political unrest in the country. In 2013, Ethiopia diverted the Nile water to start the base of the dam and Egypt reacted by threatening the GERD on live T.V., which I will discuss more later. In 2020, after Ethiopia resisted political unrest, financial trouble and external forces, the GERD is almost finished.

Currently, Egypt is not against the construction of the GERD but rather the timeline for filling of the reservoir. Initially, Ethiopia wanted to fill the reservoir in three years, and Egypt insisted on extending it to 7 years. After difficult negotiations, Ethiopia decided to fill the dam in 4–7 years depending on the rains. Egypt changed her mind and argued that the filling of the dam within 4–7 years should be extended to 12–20 years, claiming that 4–7 years will minimize its water flow and the amount of water available for agriculture posing a threat to Egypt’s food security. However, Ethiopia already extended its filling and claims that Lake Nassir (Aswan dam reservoir twice bigger than GERD) is enough to sustain Egypt’s water needs until Ethiopia fills the dam. Moreover, I have answered how the filling of the dam is not going to affect Egypt in my previous article.

Egypt wants Ethiopia and Sudan to sign the agreement that was drafted by the United States and the World Bank before the GERD reservoir filling starts. The agreement allocated Egypt 44 billion cubic meters (the colonial treaty allocated Egypt 55.5 billion cubic meters). Ethiopia believes that the agreement developed by the United States and the World Bank is limiting and does not respect the rights and benefits of the Ethiopian people. Moreover, the agreement does not represent an equal share of the Nile and it is just a new version of the 1929 colonial treaty. According to Ethiopia’s GERD dam representative officials, Ethiopia will only start negotiating with Egypt if the agreement is fair and does not favor only one country in this case, Egypt.

Despite Egypt’s opposition of the GERD filling, the first filling of the dam for testing turbines is due to start this July of 2020. The early stage of electricity generation (250–750 M.W.) is also planned to begin in 2021. Concerned about Ethiopia’s decision, in May 2020, Egypt submitted a complaint to the U.N. Security Council accusing Ethiopia of stalling negotiations about the dam. A few days later, Ethiopia sent a response to the U.N. Security Council. The response briefly explains Ethiopia’s equal rights to the Nile water and that Ethiopia is not bound by any treaty or agreement. The response also accused Egypt of stalling negotiations and explained briefly about the filling of the dam that will start this July. The response stated that:

“This storage is meant to begin testing of the power plant — effectively releasing the water downstream. Furthermore, the impoundment is carried out in two years with 4.9 billion cubic meters of water in the first year and 13.5 [billion] cubic meters of water in the second year. This volume of water taken from the average flow of 49 billion cubic meters of the Blue Nile causes no significant harm on downstream reservoirs. Moreover, the rules for first stage-filling are not the creation of Ethiopia. rather, they are taken from the non-controversial sections of the entire ‘guidelines and rules’ worked out by the three countries.”

“As shown above, Ethiopia does not have a legal obligation to seek approval of Egypt to fill the Dam. Furthermore, the impoundment of 18.4 billion cubic meters in two rounds causes no significant harm to Egypt. Therefore, Ethiopia is in full compliance with the DoP and made a remarkable and generous gesture in offering an agreement to Egypt.”

The response also concluded with an invitation to resume the tripartite negotiations with the aim of reaching a mutually beneficial agreement on reservoir filling “in good faith.” Ethiopia’s responses were delivered to the UN Security Council by Taye Atske Selassie, Ethiopia’s permanent representative to the UN. This is where we at now (date)

The price Ethiopian’s will pay:

Ethiopian people have been paying the financial and economical price for the Completion of the GERD; however, that is just the beginning. The Ethiopian people and government should be ready for the worst outcomes in the coming months and years. The worst-case scenarios include:

1. US Sanctions: Since the United States sadly favour Egypt not because Egypt is right but for other mutually beneficial reasons that are not entirely clear. If Ethiopia continues with the GERD plan, Ethiopia might be subject to economic sanctions from the US. While penalties are a huge disadvantage to Ethiopia, GERD will provide Ethiopia with electricity and water for farming and as such will fuel the economy. At least Ethiopians will sleep with their bellies full and have lights in their house for the first time, which is much better than the suffering that people face now.
2. War is not a solution and it will never be: War is not beneficial to anyone, and it will not solve any issues or stop the GERD’s completion. The only one who will benefit from war is the body (country or entities) that are selling the guns. For the past few months, I have been following social media posts about the GERD, and it saddens me to see Egyptians and Ethiopians talking about war and insulting each other on social media.

To my Ethiopian and Egyptian brothers and sisters, respectfully stop this nonsense. War is not a solution, and it will never be. However, I sometimes don’t blame people for resorting to this conclusion because, in 2013, the former president of Egypt Mohamed Morsi and high-ranking political officials were discussing how to sabotage the GERD by supporting a rebellion group in Ethiopia to create political instability and even to bomb the GERD on live television. I am not a politician or a military strategist, but I still don’t know how and why that meeting was aired on live TV. I thought those types of discussions were supposed to be top secret. Watch the Live TV discussion Video below.

V3: Egypt: President, politicians plotting against Ethiopia’s dam

A report by The National stated that:

“Egypt and Ethiopia do not share a land border, but Cairo has in recent years spent billions of dollars on weapons and hardware that significantly extend its military reach beyond its borders, such as German-made submarines and French sea troop carriers equipped with Russian assault helicopters.”

“However, any military action by Egypt would be difficult to justify under international law and a negotiated settlement might still be its only option.”

Ethiopia does not have the desire or the will to attack Egypt. Still, Egypt’s threats toward Ethiopia might be to intimidate the nation, but this only makes the country prepare for any outcomes. If it, unfortunately, comes to war and if Egypt attacks, Ethiopia has no choice but to fight back invaders. This situation will create instability throughout East and North Africa.

Yes, currently, Egypt’s military has more weapons and military personnel than Ethiopia because Egypt’s invests heavily on its military. Just because Ethiopia doesn’t spend a lot of money on its military now doesn’t make the military weak. It means Ethiopia has a leader that prioritizes development. However, Ethiopia can buy more advanced weapons and recruit more military personnel if required.

Some might assume Ethiopia can’t afford to buy weapons and recruit millions but let’s not forget that some also said the same thing about the 5 billion USD financing of the GERD which every Ethiopian contributed from their daily bread. There is news in Egypt circulating that countries have refused to sell arms to Ethiopia, but anyone is willing to sell weapons to anyone in today’s globalized world. Therefore, when it comes to protecting a country, it is evident that Ethiopians are willing to stop eating for months to provide whatever is needed to protect and keep Ethiopia’s sovereignty.

The GERD has unified Ethiopians like no other time. The Ethiopian people might not agree with politics and other things, but all are on the same page when it comes to GERD and the equal share of the Nile. Our grand and great grandparents protected our country from foreign invaders by sacrificing their blood and bones to give us the sovereign, uncolonised Ethiopia that we know today and it is not going to start submitting to foreign invasions now. Thus, we Ethiopians should be ready for any outcome.

I want to finish by saying: Ethiopians do not desire or have the willingness to go to war with anyone. The famine in the countryside is already killing many, but the Ethiopian government and the people of Ethiopia will not sit idle while their country is invaded or attacked.

The benefit of the GERD:

Not if we pass but when we pass all the struggles, the GERD will benefit Ethiopia with:

a. Electricity:

World Bank Reports highlight that 44% of Ethiopians have access to electricity. While 55% of the population still rely on firewood as fuel for cooking. What makes it even harder is the fact that Ethiopian mothers and daughters walk tens of kilometres to collect wood (figure 2.5) and fill their lungs with Carbon Dioxide in the process of cooking (figure 2.6).

Figure 2.7 Ethiopians mothers and daughters collecting fire wood for cooking (Entoto, Addis Abeba)

Figure 2.8 Ethiopian mothers cooking in a harsh condition

Education is a human right and it is the most important thing, and everyone agrees, but two-thirds of school children in Ethiopia are forced to stay in darkness and study by candlelight at night (figure 2.7). Furthermore, Ethiopia is one of the fastest-growing countries in the world, but the lack of efficient electricity presents an obstacle to growth.

Figure 2.9 Ethiopian kids studying in the dark

Egypt downplays the importance of electricity for Ethiopia and makes it sound like the people of Ethiopia require electricity for charging laptops and playing X-Box. Don’t get me wrong, Ethiopia’s dream is to see all of its population have the privilege of accessing electricity that will allow them and use modern technology, but for now, the needs are:

• To provide light for all Ethiopian children to aid their educational development.
• To stop the use of firewood that is harming the environment and putting millions of mothers and daughters at risk of lung disease
• To electrify the agriculture sector so that farmers can power water pumps and various agriculture machinery
• To provide efficient electricity for the industry sector so that it increases productivity and export
• The rest will come later.

b. Water for irrigation:

According to WFP and USAID, the main source of famine in Ethiopia is the disruption and lack of rainfall due to climate change. This can be solved by the GERD reservoir that will allow farmers to have access to water all year. In a few years, the GERD will help Ethiopian farmers to eradicate famine in Ethiopia once and for all.

c. Generating foreign currency:

The GERD will generate a surplus amount of electricity that is enough for Ethiopia and for export. Currently, Ethiopia neighboring countries Kenya, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan and Djibouti don’t have enough power, and the GERD can fulfil their electrical needs. It is predicted that Ethiopia will be able to generate one billion USD annually from the export of electricity that will increase the national foreign currency reserve that can be used for paying off debts and support more developments in Ethiopia.

d. Tourism:

Ethiopia’s tourism sector has massive potential but as of now is untouched and faces various difficulties such as political instability, lack of electricity, lack of accessible internet and more. Ethiopia’s political stability is improving, and the GERD is expected to add immense value and solve the significant problems of Ethiopia’s tourism sector by providing electricity that will boost the internet connectivity and creating additional new attraction sites. The GERD is the biggest dam in Africa and the 7th in the world: this title will attract tourists and the various hotels and resorts expected to open around the GERD reservoir (human-made lake). All this combined is expected to boost the tourism sector that will also increase foreign currency reserves and development.

e. Fishery:

Fishery is not a popular agricultural product in Ethiopia; however, the GERD reservoir might change that. The GERD reservoir has the potential to make fish a major agricultural product in Ethiopia.

Source:

World Bank, WFP, USAID, Roundtable discussion with Harry Verhoeven, John Mbaku, Adil Darwish, Abdul Rahman, Emperor Haile Selassie, Controversial Connections: The Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia, Nile Dam project

Summary

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, Egypt’s Suez Canal history and the ongoing Ethiopian GERD situation is very similar.

A. The construction of the Suez Canal was controversial and highly opposed by the British who saw it as a French political scheme to undermine British maritime trade. At the same time, the GERD project is also controversial and now highly opposed by Egypt.

B. Despite the opposition of the Suez Canal from the British and the GERD from Egypt, both projects were started.

C. Despite the British opposition to the Suez Canal, in the end, the Suez Canal became an important asset to the British because it connected their colonies. Despite Sudan’s minor fear of the GERD, once the GERD starts operation it will be their greatest asset. The dam will:

• control flooding
• provide cheap electricity
• create a strong trade relationship.

Even if the above benefits are not important for Egypt, the GERD won’t harm them but will minimize water evaporation and increase the water fl0w that g0es t0 Egypt in l0ng term.

D. Additional to the benefits that it provides to Egypt, the Suez Canal presented an opportunity to transform the maritime trade industry. At the same time, the GERD can boost the economy and electricity needs of the East African region (Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Rwanda, Tanzania).

E. The construction of the Suez Canal met various obstacles such as political instability, financial problems, limited technology and cholera pandemic. While GERD also faced barriers such as political instability, economic issues, and COVID-19 pandemic.

F. Financial request ($1 Billion) for the Aswan dam was rejected by the USA, while the world bank and the IMF rejected the financial requirement for the GERD ($4.8 — $5 billion).

G. To overcome the financial need, Egypt got financial aid from the USSR and also nationalized the Suez Canal by taking it from the British and France. While Ethiopia, on the other hand, collected money internally from citizens. Without reliance on external loans, Ethiopia can maintain 100% ownership and decision-making power over the dam.

H. Egypt took the Suez Canal back from Britain and France because it was not benefitting Egypt but colonial masters. Egypt argued the Suez Canal agreement was done before Egypt achieved independence. Now, Ethiopia and all the eight upper Nile basin countries make a similar claim about the Anglo-Egyptian treaty signed during the colonial era that should be revised now. Ethiopia also claims that she didn’t sign an agreement and has the right to use the Nile river equally.

Egypt was manipulated by the colonists to give up the control of the Suez Canal, and the GERD is facing a problem by a colonial treaty that Ethiopia did not sign.

I. Because Egypt proceeded with taking the Suez Canal back Britain, Israel and France invaded and attacked Egypt. Ethiopia has already received threats of war from Egypt following the continuation of the GERD project.

J. When Egypt was invaded by Britain, France and Israel, the USA and The UN Security Council intervened and saved Egypt. The GERD dam also involved the United States and a letter from both Egypt and Ethiopia were submitted to the UN Security Council.

K. The Suez Canal financed and improved various infrastructure development in Egypt, including the Aswan dam. In 2020 Suez Canal generates +5 Billion USD annually while GERD is expected to boost the Ethiopian economy, create food security and developments. The GERD is also expected to generate +1 billion USD annually.

What Ethiopia should learn from Egypt

Despite all the complications and disadvantages, Egypt took necessary measures to get what is rightfully theirs. In doing so, they have improved their country and the living standards of their people. However, their struggle resulted in invasions under the force of three powerful countries Britain, Israel and France. Moreover, their effort almost created a nuclear war.

Ethiopians admire Egypt’s brave initiative and struggle. Ethiopian should learn from Egypt bold strategies to protect their rights. All Ethiopians have and should and make sacrifices to build and finish the GERD. Ethiopian’s should do what is necessary to protect their nation under any and all circumstances so that current and future generations can see their basic needs met.

Thus, my Ethiopian brother and sisters, let's continue contributing by sending “A” to “8100” and it will deduct only 1 ETB. Let's contribute only 1 birr every day and let's finish our dam.

Figure 2.10 (8100)

Egyptians should strive to empathize with Ethiopia’s current situation in reflection of their history and success because Ethiopia seeks to achieve what Egypt once did.

Finally, when I say GERD is the Suez Canal of Ethiopia, it’s not because GERD connects the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. GERD is a road that will connect current Ethiopia to prosperity.

— -End — -

Again, the question is this: Is Ethiopia right to feed its people with the GERD while posing a threat to Egypt’s food security? Click article to see how the GERD won’t affect Egypt and doesn’t threat Egypt food security.