The Ethiopian government is building the largest hydropower generation dam in Africa on the Blue Nile River, which is a tributary of the 6,650 km long Nile River. This, a $6.5 billion CAD hydropower plant, which is also called the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), has an installed capacity of 5,250 MW and believed to be the country’s main hope to get out of poverty. The construction of the dam, however, brought concerns from downstream countries, specifically Egypt and Sudan. Multiple attempts of negotiations between these countries brought significant successes in arriving at negotiable milestones (nearly 90% of the disputed issues have been negotiated); however, the final binding agreement on the construction and operation of the dam has not been achieved. This paper reviews the Canada/USA Boundary Waters Treaty and its relevance towards to fostering collaborative discussions between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan. The Boundary Waters Treaty, signed on 1909, believed to be one of the most important bilateral agreement between Canada and the United States. Over the past century, it has provided a foundation for cooperation on shared natural resources on the basis of equality between the two countries. Presenters will highlight the importance of the Boundary Waters Treaty and discuss its principles and applications towards to the Nile River and the GERD.
