Egypt forced to submit to Ethiopia's water politics

[Thegoodshepherd]

https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/egypt-forced-negotiate-nile-dam

Ethiopia has just forced the most powerful country on the continent to negotiate on its only viable source of water. The only other country in Africa which depends on Ethiopia for its water as much as Egypt is Somalia. If Ethiopia is able to bring a country like Egypt to heel, I shudder to imagine what it can do to the failure that is Somalia. This is the biggest issue in Somalia's future. A country which is our sworn enemy controls both of our rivers. At least Egypt has Sudan as a buffer between them and Ethiopia, so they are insulated from direct retaliation, but Somalia has no such buffer. At the press of a button, Ethiopia will become able to completly stop the flow of the Juba or Shabelle for many months. This is a very high level of leverage for a state to have on another, I can only think of another case which is that of India and Bengladesh vs China.

 

[Bahal]

We so screwed

 

[Mr.Stone]

All that xaar talk all that pride all that false boasting hoo baariska somaliyeey, Ethiopia to Somalia.

 

[InaFreja]

It will certainly be a card they'll play once Somalia is strong enough and refuses to yield to Addis demands anymore

 

[Apollo]

The Shabelle is more like a creek than a true river. It's not that big only 40 meters wide and sometimes even dries up naturally.

The Jubba is more like a true river with a width of 150 to 250 meters.

 

[RedStar]

Calm down with the hyperbole, It's not like Ethiopia forced Egypt to come to the negotiation table with their political/military might. I think it's a good move by Egypt because Sudan is indifferent and invading Ethiopia is Egypt's only option to stop the dam. This would only exhaust the military and economic capabilities of Egypt.

 

[Amira-chan]

Since Ethiopia is in chaos now, I guess Egypt sees its chance to do something like an air-strike on the dam

 

[waraabe]

We so screwed

are you from Egypt ??

 

[Thegoodshepherd]

Since Ethiopia is in chaos now, I guess Egypt sees its chance to do something like an air-strike on the dam

Its actually the other way around, Ethiopia took advantage of Egypt's chaos from 2011 to 2014 to start construction of its dam on the Nile. The chaos in Ethiopia right now is just minor disturbances, not really a big deal.

 

[InaFreja]

Horta I'm not completely hip to Ethiopia's politics. Xilka ma waxaa isku dhiiba hal reer? Why are the Oromo marginilised when they make up a significant percentage of the Ethio population

 

[Thegoodshepherd]

It has already begun, huge dam on the Genale, the largest tributary of the Juba .
I can't believe no one is writing about this topic anywhere on Somali media.
Reer Qurac iyo Reer Qansax is more important I guess

 

[Bohol]

River or not southerners can't be self sufficient, it won't make much difference just few more famines for the south.

 

[Shamis]

We are well and truly done for if we don't invest in desalination plants ASAP.

 

[Apollo]

We are well and truly done for if we don't invest in desalination plants ASAP.

Bay province doesn't rely on the Jubba or Shabelle and has a pretty good annual rainfall level. If that province was fully modernized agriculturally it could sustain a population of 30 million easily.

 

[Shamis]

How do they harvest rainwater for their farms?

 

[Amira-chan]

We are well and truly done for if we don't invest in desalination plants ASAP.

I second that!

 

[Geeljire]

I have been thinking of this topic as of late and i have come across one country that faced the same exact problem.

Singapore.

We have no choice but to become a water self sufficient nation

If you dont know the background story. Singapore used to be heavily dependent on Malyasian water supplies. Malaysia used to threathen them with shutting off the water supply if Singapore didn't do what they wanted. So they had to look for different alternatives or they would always be a satellite.

In this regard the same will happen to us unless we become water independent or reduce our dependency significantly. We need to look for other alternatives.

 

[TheAnswer]

I have been thinking of this topic as of late and i have come across one country that faced the same exact problem.

Singapore.

We have no choice but to become a water self suficient nation

If you dont know the background story. Singapore used to be heavily dependent on Malyasian water supplies. Malaysia used to threathen them with shutting off the water supply if Singapore didn't do what they wanted. So they had to look for different alternatives or they would always be a satellite.

In this regard the same will happen to us unless we become water independent or reduce our dependency significantly

Singapore is not a good model for Somalia to follow.
The first video says Singapore is planning on becoming water self-sufficient by 2061. Notwithstanding its massive wealth and small size, Singapore still has a long way to go until it reaches that goal. Somalia cannot compete with Singapore: Somalia is dirt-poor and literally 890 times bigger than Singapore. It could never afford the necessary infrastructure to become water self-sufficient.
Somalia's best hope is to maintain cordial relations with Ethiopia. We don't have to be in bed with them, but war with Ethiopia is not a path Somalia can follow again.

 

[Shamis]

Is it legal for them to block our water supply?

 

[Amira-chan]

Is it legal for them to block our water supply?

The water comes from them so yeah I guess