Source of life for over 300 million people, the Nile has been at the heart of power struggles for control of its water. For the past 10 years, Ethiopia’s construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam, the largest dam ever built in Africa, has poisoned relations between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, and shaped the geopolitics of the region.
Located some twenty kilometers from the Sudanese border, the dam holds the promise of prosperity for Ethiopia, who wants to use it to boost its economy and become a regional energy power. Construction is nearing completion,
However to Egypt, which has always considered itself the absolute master of the Nile, and the Renaissance Dam represents a direct threat to its national security. Citing a “historic right” to the river, the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi threatened: “I say loud and clear, no one must touch a single drop of the Nile’s water. Otherwise the region will experience unprecedented instability.” Now, Cairo is using every means in its power to block progress on the project, even going so far as to lobby the international community at the United Nations.
As for Sudan, Egypt’s staunch ally, its position on the dam remains ambiguous. Rich in mineral and water resources, the Horn of Africa is today a strategic region in the throes of change, with new players such as the United Arab Emirates stepping in to take advantage of its fragility and reshuffle alliances.
This film gathers rare testimonies from a border region torn apart by armed conflict, where violence and massacres have scarred local communities already displaced by the construction of the dam.