Conflicts of Shared Resources: A Case Study of River Nile

This paper has attempted to discuss the possible conflicts of shared resources with a case study of the Nile River. Natural resources are a natural heritage within a country that are typically exploited for economic gain. Natural resources that extend or transit beyond international borders require agreements or cooperation between countries on their fair use and management. Such resources are likely to be major source of conflicts if there are no agreements or institutions to manage the exploitation. Sharing of the Nile waters among the basin countries is a long outstanding case that echoes the bitter memories of British colonial legacy. The signing of the Nile water agreements, currently in use, was supervised by the British in furtherance of their policy of divide and rule. That is why the 1959 agreement allocated almost all of the Nile waters to Egypt and Sudan, in total disregard of the upstream countries. The Nile Basin Initiative NBI and all other stake holders should prevail on Egypt to consider its stand and accept a new agreement over Nile water-sharing that includes all the basin countries. They should apply a sub-basin approach and build up to a basin-wide approach. They should first bring together the three eastern Nile countries, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, and then incorporate all of the basin countries. When all is said and done, it will go a long way in improving NBI institutional capacity and prevent possible future inter-state conflicts.