The ongoing dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over a major hydropower dam project being built by Addis Ababa on the Nile River has inspired an increased spirit of patriotism among Egyptians.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Egypt — which gets 90% of its water supplies from the River Nile — fears that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will sharply reduce its water share. Ethiopia, an upstream country, says the dam project is vital for the country’s development. Years of negotiations between the two countries have failed to resolve the dispute.

The standoff revolves around the filling and operation of the dam, which sits on the Blue Nile. The Blue Nile flows into the River Nile during periods of drought. While Ethiopia wants to fill the dam’s reservoir of 74 billion cubic meters during a period of four to seven years, Egypt demands the reservoir be filled over a longer and slower period of 10 years.

Ethiopia Starts Filling Dam Without Egyptian Approval

On July 15, Ethiopia announced that it has started filling the GERD without reaching an agreement with downstream countries Egypt and Sudan. The announcement sparked anger in Egypt, with many Egyptians taking to social media to express their support for any action to be taken by their government against Ethiopia over the dam.

Social media accounts in Egypt have been filled with patriotism and cheering for their army, with many users posting photos of soldiers and military vehicles on their pages.

“Ethiopia has no right to build a dam on the Nile without an agreement with Egypt and Sudan. They [Ethiopia] don’t own the Nile River,” Ahmed Raef, 45, a driver, told InsideOver. “If they continued to refuse to reach an agreement with us on building the dam, the Egyptian army can intervene and solve the situation by force.”

Ethiopia Doesn’t Stand a Chance Against Egypt

A source of pride for many in Egypt, the Egyptian military is by far more powerful than Ethiopia’s. Egypt’s army ranks ninth out of 138 armies around the world, while the Ethiopian army ranks 60th, according to the Global Fire Power.

Angry with what they view as Ethiopian intransigence over the dam, Egyptians launched several hashtags on social media to show support for their military and defend the country’s right to the Nile water. A petition also went viral on social media, requesting the army to take all measures needed to protect and defend Egypt’s national security, resources and fortunes of the Egyptian people.

‘The Egyptian Army is Strong Enough to Force Ethiopia to Change its Mind’

“The Egyptian army is strong enough to force Ethiopia to change its mind on filling the dam without reaching an agreement with Egypt,” said Hani Ahmed, a 21-year-old university student. “So far, the Egyptian government favors diplomacy in the hope of resolving the dispute with Ethiopia peacefully.”

Last month, Egypt asked the UN Security Council to intervene to help resolve the dam dispute with Addis Ababa. Addressing the Security Council, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said the massive dam — Africa’s largest — endangers Egypt’s survival. He warned that filling the GERD without an agreement with downstream countries would heighten tension and provoke crises and conflicts in the region.

Ongoing Tension Over the Nile

The Nile River has been a source of geographical tension between the Egypt and Ethiopia. In 1979, the two countries nearly went to war when Cairo responded to Ethiopian efforts to build a dam by amassing troops in nearby Sudan. And in 1994, Egypt threatened military action against Ethiopia when Addis Ababa revealed plans for the construction of a dam on the Nile.

The latest round of African Union-sponsored talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to reach an agreement ended in a deadlock. The Egyptian Presidency, however, said on July 21 that the leaders of the three countries agreed to continue their talks for reaching a “binding legal agreement on the rules for filling and operating” the dam.

Egyptian Accusation: Ethiopia is Using the Dam as a ‘Political Tool’ to Blackmail Egypt

Former Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasr Allam accused Ethiopia of wasting time in an attempt to avoid reaching a binding agreement with Egypt over the dam. In statements, Allam said Ethiopia was using the dam project as a “political tool in order to impose control over Egypt, extract concessions and undermine its standing in the region”.

On July 19, Egypt’s National Security Council held a meeting to discuss the results of talks with Ethiopia over the GERD. A statement issued following the meeting reiterated Egypt’s resolve to reaching a comprehensive agreement on the rules of filling and operating the dam “in a way that guarantees the water rights and development for the three countries and maintains regional security and stability.”

Inability to Come to an Agreement

Earlier this year, the three countries held talks in Washington under the US auspices to resolve the dam dispute. Ethiopia, however, refused to sign a final agreement. On July 22 Foreign Policy magazine, citing officials and congressional aides, said the Donald Trump administration was weighing withholding some aid to Ethiopia over the dam project.

For Ahmed, the university student, the issue is still in Egypt’s hands, thanks to the strength of the Egyptian military.

“The River Nile has always been a lifeline for the Egyptians and we can’t allow Ethiopia to enforce its will on us,” he said. “If the situation reached a dead end, I’m confident that Egyptian army will be there to solve the dispute for good.”

L'articolo Nile Dam Dispute with Ethiopia is Boosting Egyptian Patriotism proviene da InsideOver.

Reportage / Society 22.07.2020

Traditional Authorities

Set somewhere between tradition and innovation, the system of power in Ghana is changing radically. What is actually happening? The following report explains it. Part of the collective imagination of Africa is made up of tribal leaders, village chiefs and…

Evans Ahorsu

Jacopo Lentini

Guardians of the earth

“My mother had bought some land, but once when I went to see it I found there were people building on it who claimed they had also bought it. She turned to the local leader to solve the issue,” tells us Zuu Tiparga, a Tamale university student. The double sale of plots of land are not rare and traditional authorities are the immediate point of reference before turning to the institutional authorities. This is a central issue in Ghana where the State owns only 20% of the Country’s entire land. The rest is managed by village leaders who rule over disputes and concessions. Any initiative modifying the territory must go through them, and they are certainly not new to the idea development. In fact, according to anthropologist Valerio Colosio, already in remote times, in certain areas of Ghana, “development was defined using the indigenous term nkosuo. It was not a practice invented and imported with British colonization, but a local concept. Originally nkosuo, indicated the deforestation of a plot of land for the purpose of making it arable”.

A clash between systems

Traditional authorities are not a structure running parallel with the modern State; they are integrated and at the same time competing with it. “Parliament shall have no power to enact any law which in any way detracts or derogates from the honor and dignity of the institution of chieftaincy”, recites chapter 22 of Ghana’s constitution. During the colonial period the British endowed the chiefs with enormous power, instrumental to serving their interests. Since the independence of Ghana in 1957, they have been carrying out a role as mediators between the local population and government institutions to which they are subordinated.

L'articolo Traditional Authorities proviene da InsideOver.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread rapidly across the world, Sub-Sahara Africa is still recording a relatively low number of coronavirus cases. However, the situation in the coming days remained uncertain and many countries in the region are considering urgent action to contain the spread of the virus. At this writing, World Health Organization (WHO) statistics updates indicates that there are 512,701 confirmed cases worldwide while WHO Africa recorded 2,652 cases with 81 recovered and 50 deaths.

Racing Against the Coronavirus Clock

African countries like South Africa, Rwanda and Uganda are now racing against the speedy spread of the virus by bringing in new measures, among them recently-imposed lockdown in South Africa and a 7 pm to dawn curfew in Kenya that was announced by President Uhuru Kenyatta a few days ago as a preventive measure.

The existing situation is already extremely difficult. Millions of low income earners accounting 82% of people in rural areas in Africa are in extreme poverty earning little or no income according to World Bank. These low income earners will be heavily affected by Covid-19 countermeasures as countries begin to place restrictions on travel, impose lockdowns, set curfews and encourage social distancing that will weaken the ability of many businesses to operate.

Kenyan Construction Worker: ‘I Don’t Know How I Will Survive’

Joseph Mwangi 38, a father of three working in a construction sites in the outskirts of Nairobi Kenya’s capital fears that Covid-19 restrictions will hurt his operations and fears that he might soon lose his job and will not be able to provide for his family.

“Government directives are good but for people like me I don’t know how I will survive,” Mwangi said, adding that: “Construction work, you can’t do it in the house.”

However, it’s a relief for many like Mwangi when the government announces 7pm to dawn curfew instead of a full lockdown which still offers an opportunity for them to work.

“Yes that’s better, I can work for those hours as I adhere to the guidelines given by the ministry of health, which is good,” Mwangi said to InsideOver as he prepared to leave his work place much earlier in order to start working again in the early hours.

According to Alexander G. Owino, Consultant and Financial Sector Specialist based in Nairobi, Covid-19 will have a serious impact on the lives and livelihoods of Kenya’s low income earners. Owino added that the livelihoods, jobs or daily hustles of low income earners will experience a supply-side shock. “Covid-19 will severely disrupt transportation, supply chains and supplies of nearly all inputs, good or services, impairing the ability of informal sector producers to work or serve their customers,” Owino explained.

Sub-Saharan African GDP Set For Major Decrease

The Brookings Institute projected that the Covid-19 related economic disruptions emanating from emergency response will lower sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP growth in 2020 to between 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent, down from the projected 3.6 per cent before the outbreak of the virus.

The repercussion from disease outbreak and the rapid measures employed by the African governments has rippling effects on low income wage people like faith Anyango, a mother of two children working in one of Nairobi’s many restaurants. She is already bearing the brunt of the economic downturn as her work place has been temporarily closed and now she is jobless. “I left my two children at home with my mother, they rely on me to buy them food and other essentials,” Anyango said regretfully, speaking to InsideOver. “Now I don’t have a job, the business is low and we were told to go home. What can I do now?”

The Coming Hospital and Healthcare Overload

Owino also noted that the pandemic will likely place a heavy demands on hospitals and health facilities, further raising healthcare costs for those least able to bear them. In addition to raising the costs of living and at the same time reducing the incomes of the poor due to near-collapse of purchases from customers restricted by curfews and social distancing measures or ordered to quarantine and stay at home.

“The low income earners will face rising costs of essential household needs, particularly food and health,” Owino said.

UNESCO estimates that more than 120 countries have already introduced nation-wide school and university closures affecting 1.2 billion learners nearly three-quarters of the world’s student population and the number is expected to rise as the coronavirus looks set to spread further. Save the Children projected that risk goes beyond disruption to education – they also carry other risks to marginalized children and children from low-income households, because many may rely on school meals to support their daily nutrition.

As a result, it overstretches the already fragile household’s budgets. Gabriella Waajiman, Save the Children’s Global Humanitarian Director, says that current situation is unprecedented and the number of children suddenly out of school or university is equivalent to the entire population of India.

“As pressures mount on low income families, children may need to work to bolster family incomes, and girls especially may also face a disproportionate burden of caring for family members who contract the virus or taking care of younger children. If plans are not put in place urgently, some children run the risk of never returning to school at all,” Waajiman explained.

Africa’s Fight Against Covid-19

Meanwhile, the fight against the COVID-19 is gaining momentum in Africa, the continent receives major boost with Alibaba’s donation of 1.5 million test kits and 100 tons of supplies for infection prevention and control which arrived in Addis Ababa on March 22.

“This is a great honor and initiative and a great sign of the solidarity that the world needs at this critical time. The test kits and other materials will support African countries in their fight against this outbreak,” said Dr. Kohn Nkengasong, Director of Africa’s CDC. “We are facing a humanitarian situation, an economic situation and a security situation in the continent and Africa CDC clearly applauds the initiative of the Prime Minister and the Jack Ma and Alabama Foundation,” he added.

L'articolo African Low Income Earners Bear the Brunt of Strict Covid-19 Measures proviene da InsideOver.

As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus, another mysterious disease is silently infecting and killing villagers in Ethiopia’s Ogaden Basin. According to an investigation by The Guardian, the main symptoms of the disease – which one local leader claimed has killed 2000 people since 2014 include bleeding from the mouth and nose and intense yellowing of the eyes and palms.

Disease X

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has named it “Disease X,” a name given to a mysterious pathogen capable of spreading and wreaking havoc across the world.

When Abdi Khadar’s eyes and palms started turning yellow, nobody saw it as a cause for alarm. Soon he started bleeding from his nose and mouth with his body getting swollen. This was followed by a strong fever that made him frail eventually leading to his death. Many of Khadar’s neighbours have claimed experiencing similar symptoms .

Although the cause of the disease is not yet known, there are growing speculations that Poly-GCL, a partly state-owned Chinese company could be responsible. The company is currently engaged in oil and gas prospects in the Ogaden Basin where it has been developing the Calub and Hilala fields since 2013 when it signed a production sharing deal with the Ethiopian government.

Chinese Energy Company Spilling Toxic Waste May Be to Blame

An engineer who worked for the company for three years told the Guardian in confidence that there were regular spillages of sulphuric acid and other deadly fluids. This was reiterated by Ali Hassan Farah who claimed that “local people were dying from raw toxins spilled out of sheer carelessness.”

According to Healthline, long term exposure to toxins can cause scarring of the liver leading to a severe medical condition called Cirrhosis. Symptoms of cirrhosis occur when “the liver is unable to purify the blood, break down toxins, produce clotting proteins, and help with absorption of fats-soluble vitamins.”

Early symptoms include nose bleeds, yellow discoloration, weight loss, decreased appetite. More serious conditions that appear at an advanced stage include abdominal swelling, swelling of the legs, gynecomastia (men developing breasts) and impotence. The complications that could result from cirrhosis include kidney Failure and liver cancer.

Ethiopian Government: We are Not Aware of Any Reports of Toxic Spills

While Poly-GCL refused to comment when contacted, Ethiopian Government through the director of licensing at the federal ministry of mines and petroleum Mr Ketsela Tadesse, said it was not aware of any reports of spillages, also observing that there were no permanent residents in the vicinity of the gas project because people in the area were pastoral farmers.

“We can emphatically state that all the gas wells at Calub and elsewhere in the Ogaden Basin are sealed, safe and secured according to international standards,” said Tadesse. Despite this denial, medical experts in the area have claimed that most cases of the mysterious disease have emanated from the area around the gas project.

But there is also a possibility that the toxins were left by companies that operated in the area many years back before the arrival of the Chinese company. Extensive oil and gas deposits were first discovered in the area almost 90 years ago. The first exploration was undertaken by American Standard Oil in 1920. Further explorations by Tenneco also of America in 1974, led to the discovery of almost 68 million cubic meters of gas.

Could Disease X be Crimea-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever?

Whereas many in the affected areas are blaming such exploration as the cause, there is an implausible belief in some quarters that the disease could be ‘Crimea-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), a viral disease common in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia with sporadic outbreaks in Kosovo, Albania, Iran and Turkey over the years. Its symptoms include bleeding from the upper bowel, blood in the urine nosebleeds and bleeding from the gums.

Even though some of these symptoms could be similar to those of the mysterious disease , a number of factors rule out the possibility of CCHF. One is that the latter has been localized in one area for a very long time unlike CCHF which tends to spread fast across a wide geographical area if not controlled.

Ethiopia’s 2001 Struggle With A Strange Illness

It is not the first time a mysterious disease is being reported in Ethiopia. In early 2000s, a strange illness was reported in the Northern region after people living in the villages began to develop swollen abdomens, losing weight and showing signs of liver disease.

In some cases all members of one family were wiped out by the disease. In 2005 a multidisciplinary team made of Ethiopian medical experts, environmentalists and anthropologists supported by the US Centers for Disease Control, began to carry out investigations in the area to determine the cause.

After two years, the investigations ruled out infectious disease and suggested that the disease may be related to toxins in the diets of the locals. Although no definite cause was found the experts were able to narrow down the list of possibilities. They discovered that grain samples gathered from household farms contained low levels of plant based liver toxins called pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs). Their conclusion was that the cause of the outbreak was exposure to a toxic PA-contaminated grain or animal product.

L'articolo Mysterious “Disease X” Strikes in Ethiopia: What is it? proviene da InsideOver.

As the world endeavors to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions it’s very critical for world economies to shift their consumption of energy from fossils fuels in order to meet the globally agreed climate goals laid down in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Africa’s Response to Climate Change

Therefore, more than 25 organizations, networks and community resistance groups from Africa and around the world, in a communiqué signed by the group called on African governments to prevent the proliferation of coal, oil and gas in Africa and to ensure efforts to address fossil fuels match those which have helped reduce the danger from nuclear weapons.

In a recently concluded Africa Energy Leaders’ Summit on Climate Change, Energy, and Energy Finance in Addis Ababa-Ethiopia attended by representatives from different NGOs which includes MELCA-Ethiopia, Oil Change Africa, Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, the deCOA Lonize Campaign and Power Shift Africa demands the urgent need of African governments to upscale their efforts and strengthen their response to climate change.

“The group criticized the deliberate proliferation of coal, oil, and gas in Africa, contrary to scientific evidence and highlighted the contradiction between planned fossil fuel expansion and globally agreed climate targets,” read the press statement.

IPCC: Sub-Saharan Africa is Particularly Vulnerable to Negative Effects of Climate Change

Although Sub Sahara Africa emits 2 to  3 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industrial sources, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the continent is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Indeed, the frequency and intensity of droughts and floods have already worsened in many parts of Africa and its bad effects will increase in future.

The activists noted that the rapidly rising threats of fossils fuels as the major driver of climate change crisis in Africa also deserved the same efforts that match the magnitude and the speed at which weapons of mass destruction are confronted.

The group specifically called on African leaders to: “put an end to fossil fuel development; to manage the decline of existing production of oil, gas, and coal; and to rapidly initiate a transition to clean and safe renewable sources of energy that fully supports access to energy for those who currently lack it.”

They also asked them to “publicly condemn and reject the double standards advanced by fossil fuel companies and their allied interests, who result in the discriminatory treatment of Africa and her peoples.”

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Need to Go Down By At Least 25 Percent by 2030

According to 2019 emission gap report indicated that by 2030, emissions would need to be 25 per cent and 55 per cent lower than in 2018 to put the world on the least-cost pathway to limiting global warming to below 2˚C and 1.5°C respectively. Alvin Munyasia, from Oxfam International says that all coal must end immediately, and all other fossil fuels phased out by 2050 – with rich countries ditching them fastest to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees.

“No new coal power plants should be built anywhere, and the last existing plant needs to be closed in wealthy countries at the very latest by 2030 and in all countries by 2040,” he insisted.

Additionally, the advocacy group further called on their African leaders to fast-track and rapidly initiate a transition to clean and safe renewable sources of energy that fully supports access to energy for those who currently lack it.” They also ask them to “publicly condemn and reject the double standards advanced by fossil fuel companies and their allied interests, who result in the discriminatory treatment of Africa and her peoples.”

Access to alternative sources of clean energy is vital for African countries towards the realization of Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development .Mohamed Adow, Director of climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa highlighted the fossil fuel industry as an existential threat to Africa and the world – and to have chance of meeting the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to below 1.5C degrees, international cooperation is required to prevent the proliferation of coal, oil and gas, at the scale and speed required to stabilize the Earth’s climate.

“African countries investing in fossil fuels risk creating stranded assets, and an un-managed and disorderly transition from fossil fuels. We can either intentionally develop new ways to meet our energy needs without increasing our emissions or altogether lose the window of opportunity to ensure a safe climate and a sustainable future.”

Consistent Climate Change Policies are Sorely Needed

The 2019 UN environment emission gap report further indicates that to attain a significant global energy sector transition requires consistent climate change policies that concord well with the Paris agreement goal. This will require huge investments to between US$1.6 trillion and US$3.8 trillion per year globally on average over the 2020–2050 to improve global energy systems.

In this regards, Omar Elmawi, Coordinator for the deCOALonize Campaign, mentioned that Sub- Sahara Africa present huge opportunities for renewable energy. “The abundance of renewable energy like wind, solar and geothermal makes it possible for Africa to leapfrog dirty fossil fuels like coal that countries in the west had to rely on for their development.” Omar said.

But some African countries have already made substantial progress in tapping into vast renewable energy to power their economies. South Africa has developed the largest wind energy while Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Kenya are following suit with both wind and solar energy generation thus increasing competition to fossil fuels.

As the world embraces the energy transition away from fossil fuels to low-carbon solutions, there is potential to disrupt existing power dynamics .Nthabiseng Matsoha, Earthlife Africa’s Researcher and Energy Policy Officer says that it’s high time the continent’s renewable energy potential benefited ordinary people. This is especially important as we move towards a ‘just transition’ to a decarbonized world. Community ownership models should be explored, to not only benefit but to empower.

L'articolo African NGOs Call for Reduction in Coal, Oil and Gas at African Union Summit proviene da InsideOver.