High dams in Ethiopia put Nile cooperation to the test

When Norway signed an agreement last year to help Ethiopia prepare two of the largest hydropower projects in Africa, the political prospects for cooperation between upstream and downstream Nile River countries appeared to be good.

A year later, the rhetoric about use of Nile waters is strident. Ethiopia and four other upstream countries have gone ahead and signed a Nile cooperation agreement, while Egypt and Sudan have refused to join in.