Hydro diplomacy on the Nile

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is being built across a major Nile tributary, is expected to produce up to 6,000 megawatts of electricity during peak times [AP]

A long-simmering water conflict between Ethiopia and Egypt has moved a step closer to resolution, after the countries' foreign ministers announced last week they had reached a preliminary agreement on sharing Nile water.

The deal, which still needs to be approved by the heads of state of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, appears to be an important breakthrough, observers say - although details of the agreement have not yet been made public.
"This is significant in my view," Mwangi Kimenyi, a Brookings Institute fellow who co-authored a book on the need for a new legal regime on sharing Nile water, told Al Jazeera. "Any development in the sharing of Nile water that is based on negotiations between the stakeholders is a positive development."
The deal is important because it marks a move away from Egypt's historical insistence on maintaining colonial-era agreements on water rights.