A view of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on February 19, 2022 [Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency]

According to Turkish media, this agreement creates the Nile River Basin Commission (NRBC), which will promote cooperation among the countries sharing the Nile.

On July 8, 2024, South Sudan announced that its Transitional National Legislative Assembly (TNLA) unanimously ratified the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA).

While Egypt and Sudan have rejected the CFA, it has been signed by several upstream countries, including Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged the non-signatory states to join the agreement, referring to it as the “Nile Family” and emphasizing the importance of working together to share the river’s resources fairly.

The CFA marks the first multilateral effort by Nile Basin countries to establish a legal framework for managing the river’s use.

The Nile has long been a source of tension, particularly between Egypt and Ethiopia, especially since Ethiopia began building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile.

Ethiopia sees the dam as vital for its economic growth and insists it will not threaten water supplies downstream.

In contrast, Egypt views the GERD as a significant threat to its water resources and demands a binding agreement on how the dam will be filled and operated.