Egypt's request to join CFA agreement on Nile waters rejected - Journal du Cameroun

Egypt's request to join CFA agreement on Nile waters rejected - Journal du Cameroun: "Egypt’s request to join CFA agreement on Nile waters rejected Published on 17.05.2017 à 16h21 by APA News Share The Council of Ministers of the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) which was signed by member states of Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) has rejected Egypt’s request to join the CFA, after close scrutiny of the bid during the last nine months, a senior official disclosed on Wednesday.The CFA was signed by Ethiopia, DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Sudan and South Sudan to mutually and fairly utilize the natural resource in the Nile waters. Five countries including Ethiopia have so far ratified the agreement in their parliaments, and the remaining are in the pipeline. Council of Ministers members drawn from Sudan, Rwanda and Uganda have been looking at the bid submitted by Egypt during the last nine months, and have finally rejected it at their final meeting in Entebbe, Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity Dr Sileshi Getahun told reporters in Addis Ababa. The bid became unacceptable due to Egypt’s stance to stick by the 1959 agreement, which provides the lion’s share of Nile waters to Egypt, Dr Getahun said. The minister added that Egypt’s stance is against the pillars upon which the CFA was founded, and Ethiopia’s firm stance for a fair utilization of the Nile waters. The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is an intergovernmental partnership of nine Nile Basin countries namely, Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, The Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Eritrea participates as an observer. NBI intends to establish a framework to “promote integrated management, sustainable development, and harmonious utilization of the water resources of the Basin, as well as their conservation and protection for the benefit of present and future generations.” Despite refusal to sign the agreement, Egypt has been accepting principles of the CFA during the past nine years, said Dr Getahun. piEthiopia, as a country did not accept Egypt’s idea, which is totally contrary to the llars and principles of the Cooperative Framework Agreement, he pointed out."



'via Blog this'