Nile river - The African Mirror

Jun

2023

920 million people could face conflict over the world’s rivers by 2050: what our study found in Africa

THE Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project on the Nile River started operating in February 2022. It reinforced tensions between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. The three countries rely most heavily on the Nile’s water. Sudan and Egypt consider the US$4.6 billion dam a threat to vital water supplies. Ethiopia sees it as essential for its development. SOPHIE DE BRUIN, Researcher in Environmental Change, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam This is just one example of how conflicts can arise between states that share river basins. And there’s a real risk that such conflicts will become more common as global temperatures rise. Hundreds of rivers…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Prehistoric cemetery in Sudan shows war has been hell forever

HUMAN RIGHTS

WILL DUNHAM ALL was not well among the peoples who inhabited the east bank of the Nile River in northern Sudan some 13,400 years ago, as revealed by the battered bodies buried in a cemetery at one of the world's oldest sites showing human warfare. Researchers said on Thursday a re-examination of remains from the Jebel Sahaba cemetery excavated in the 1960s provides new insight into this prehistoric bloodshed, including evidence that there had been a succession of violent encounters rather than a single deadly showdown as previously believed. Of the skeletal remains of 61 men, women and children, 41…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Satellite data provides fresh insights into the amount of water in the Nile basin

ENVIRONMENT

FLOWING through 11 African countries, the Nile River plays an important role in the lives of more than 24% of Africa’s population. To both upstream and downstream countries, the Nile waters are crucial in development planning, food and energy production. EMAD HASAN, Postdoctoral Researcher in Remote Sensing Hydrology, Binghamton University, State University of New York AONDOVER TARHULE, Professor, Vice president for Academic Affairs and Provost, at Illinois State University, Illinois State University As countries vie for these resources, there has been immense tension. Most notably, Egypt and Sudan have challenged Ethiopia’s decision to construct and fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

The Nile river led to Khartoum’s growth, but now threatens the city

AFRICITIES

ANDREA ZERBONI, Associate professor, University of Milan OVER the past few weeks, floods – following exceptionally heavy rains – have hit Sudan. Many parts of the country have been affected though it has been particularly destructive in Khartoum, the capital city. In and around the city, flooding of the Nile River has killed almost one hundred people, destroyed more than 1,000 houses and the incidence of water-borne diseases is now also rising. Along the Nile River in Sudan, floods are not unusual and destructive events have been recorded, for instance in 1946 and 1988. But, over recent years, the levels…

Sep

2020

By The African Mirror

Made homeless by record floods, tens of thousands of Sudanese wait for aid

NEWS

SUDANESE authorities and the United Nations are rolling out aid to tens of thousands who lost their homes in record Nile floods, but many of those camping out on roadsides and higher ground are despairing of when it will reach them. Sudan's government said it had allocated more than 150 million Sudanese pounds ($2.73 million) to help flood victims, the state news agency said. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said that with the help of the United Arab Emirates it had flown 100 metric tonnes of relief material including blankets, which will be distributed across 12 states. The floods have…