Geopolitical challenges for the development of hydroelectricity in the Nile Basin

Résumé En

In this region, the setting up of hydropower production capacity has long been curbed by the hydro-hegemony of downstream countries Egypt and Sudan. Thanks to the Nile Waters Agreement, these countries pushed the spatial planning of the Nile Basin to favour their own agricultural sector. In spite of cooperation attempts in the field of water management, within the context of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), the situation became a stalemate. Today, a new phase of dam construction illustrates the evolution of the balance of power in favour of upstream countries. This dynamic is amplified by the deployment of transnational power grids, in the framework of the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP), which encourages energy transfers. In this context, Ethiopia seeks to become an exporting power in renewable energy, allowing it to strengthen its ties with the riparian countries of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.