“As experts from Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt met to discuss an under-construction Ethiopian hydropower project, a Wikileaks report stated that Egyptian authorities reached an agreement with Khartoum to build an airbase in Sudan, to launch attacks on Ethiopian dam facilities. Although denied by Cairo, the information allegedly from the Texas-based global intelligence company, Stratfor, is a stark reminder of the high stakes involved in Nile Basin politics. The reason is the vital importance of the Nile to Egypt and the threat it sees from a more assertive stance from upstream nations, particularly a resurgent Ethiopia. As the Greek philosopher and historian, Herodotus, declared, Egypt has the ‘gift’ of the Nile. This ‘gift’ has made it easy for Egyptians to produce agricultural products in fertile soil near areas where much of the country consists of dry desert land.”
