Salamu Alaikum brothers from Pakistan! I think as a Sudanese something needs to be pointed out here as to why Sudan supports Ethiopia in building this dam. What I really don't like is that a number of brothers are painting Sudan as the agressor alongside Ethiopia trying to take away Egypts waters. now this is going to be a long comment for sure but I would just like to send this message across and I hope as many as you guys will read this so you have a better understanding of Sudans side of the argument.
1. Sudan and Egypt were once one country (like Pakistan and India) administered by Great Britain. Then Sudan gained indepence in 1956. Sudan has always viewed Egypt as its sister country always standing by Egypts side in politics. has always helped Egypt by as much as it can afford to do. Whether its in Egypts wars against Israel or even when the arab league boycotted Egypt. Even Bashir (Sudans president) fought alongside Egyptian forces against Israel. When Egypt was trying to build the Aswan dam, Sudan agreed to let the Nasir lake enter Sudanese territory drowning an entire town known as Halfa without asking much in return i.e., we sacrificed an entire town for our brothers in Egypt. In 1959 Sudan signed an agreement with Egypt that ''unfairly'' gives Egypt a lion share of the waters. These are just the few things that an average Sudanese knows of how Egypt was loved amongst Sudanese people.
Lies , Egypt was given 9%% of water niles by Britain in 1929 agreement , Egypt then gave up parts of its share to Sudan based on 1959 agreement where Egypt received 75% and Sudan 25% at that time Egypt population was 22 million while Sudan barely 9 million in addition to that fact Egypt does not have other rivers or rainy seasons like Sudan .
Egyptian leadership were stupid to give 2/3 of Sudan and Egypt land mass to Sudan even though at that time in 1958 Egypt had 3 times more people than Sudan .
2. but what has Egypt done for Sudan?. Egypt has done everything in its power to ensure that Sudan does not develop. from harbouring Sudanese rebels to playing a role in isolating Sudan internationally. in the mid 90's when Sudan was in a midst of a civil war, Egypt invaded the Sudanese triangle of Halaiib. Is this a thank you for all we did for Egypt?. Egypt, regardless of its military might thanks to American aid never heped Sudan in its civil war, never felt like returning any favours that Sudan had given Egypt. now one might argue that Sudan never officially asked for support, but does that make it ok for Egypt to invade a triangle where its natives are no different to Sudans beja tribe?
Lies again Halayeb is an integral part of Egypt and it is located north of 22 line which is the official borders between Egypt and Sudan .
The Beja tribes have been seeking independence from Sudan by forming their Eastern Sudan State as a result of discrimination by central government in Khartoum.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Front_(Sudan)
You did not mention why Egypt Officially took over Halayeb in 1995 ? Do you remember what your government did back then when they attempted to Assassinate the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Ethiopia ?
1)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/mubarak-narrowly-escapes-gunmen-1588511.html
2)
http://articles.latimes.com/1995-06-27/news/mn-17703_1_president-mubarak
3)
http://www.un.org/press/en/1996/19960426.sc6214.html
Ethiopian Government even decided to cut their diplomatic ties with Sudanese Government as a result of their support for terrorism and attempt to assassinate Egyptian president in Adis Ababa in 1995 .
3. I wish it only stopped there.... ignorantly, Egyptian people view Sudan as their backyard. a large, rich landscape with arable land, minerals , rivers , uranium , natural gas etc you name it. You have Egypian media everyday attacking Sudans independent decisions thinking ''how on earth can Sudan do this or that?''. no point going into more detail, its all available on youtube.
There are also Sudanese channels on Youtube that makes fun of Egyptian and even insulting their women calling them whores . Many Sudanese on Youtube call for a genocide against Egypt and even transferring the nile to Israel like this Sudanese from Sudan Army below .
Arab countries continously insult each other whether Morroco Vs Algeria or Kuwait Vs Iraq , this is not a valid reason to hate a country . Egypt never waged war on Sudan and if that happened Sudan would have been partitioned into 5 countries today . You know that the central government in Sudan holds the country through military power and suppressing others by brute force . People in Darfur , Beja region , Blue Nile and South Kurdofan are all seeking independence or Autonomy from Sudan either through Armed insurgencies or Political activism .
I did not even mention the tribal problem in North Sudan and the minority group from Khartoum , Jazira and northern states that dominates the political life at the expense of other ethnic groups in North Sudan from West , East and Southern states .
The racist Sudanese from Khartoum and other Northern States use a derogatory racist slur against Egypt calling them " El Halaba " .
4. Sudan, after 20 years of sanctions and isolation asked its ''muslim brothers'' to get the US to remove the economic embargo from Sudan. An embargo which prevented Sudan from conducting international banking transactions, spare parts for trains, purchase of new civilian aircraft (transport sector ruined), effective investments etc... overall costed the country $45 billion. just for reference Sudans entire GDP is at $118 billion as of 2017 (IMF October 2017). The countries that lobbied hard to remove those sanctions were Saudi Arabia, UAE and reportedly ISRAEL.... yet our so called brothers in Egypt were reportedly against the removal of sanctions....
Egypt was one of the most affected countries as a result of the sanctions on Sudan . These sanctions caused Egypt to handle between 2-3 million Sudanese refugees in a country that already faces hardships managing over 80 million citizens . The Sudanese citizens in Sudan regularly visit Egypt for Medical treatment and Education due to lake of such facilities in Sudan .
Sudan has placed under sanctions as a result of the Sudanese government support for Terrorism against other countries and Sudan was behind terrorist attacks against USA Embassy in Nairobi and other african places that lead to the death of over 200 civilians .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_...bombings#Aftermath_and_international_response
Sudan hosted various terrorist organizations including terrorist Islamic Jihad group that targeted and killed over 1000 Egyptian civilians and badly hit the Egyptian Economy by destroying Tourism .
Sudan also hosted and supported the biggest Terrorist of All time Osama Biladen who financed Terrorism all over the muslim world especially Egypt .
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...sition-leader-who-hosted-osama-bin-laden-dies
Video Below shows Criminal Terrorist Osama Biladen with Albashir in Sudan .
6. now the Ethiopian dam would benefit Sudan just as much as the Aswan dam benefits Egypt. it would allow Sudan to develop its agriculture and make it a true food basket in the arab world by allowing it to irritigate its land all year rather than just one season. So if it benefits Sudan, why should Sudan be against it? why would Sudan even stand by Egypt? I guarantee that any nation on earth being in Sudans position would have done the same. Ethiopia never done a quarted of the things which Egypt did to Sudan. Who even came up with the idea that Egypt somehow owns the Nile? XD
No one said Egypt owns the nile , there is an agreement signed in 1959 between Egyptian and Sudanese government that divides water from Blue and White nile . The problem is not about Building the Dam its rather to do with filling period and the rate of nile flow that would be allowed during dry seasons .
The Egyptian president and other government officials have said several times Ethiopia has the right to build the dam , negotiations are about Dam filling period and already the agreement signed between Ethiopia , Sudan and Egypt gives Ethiopia the right to build the Dam .
If you think you prosperity would come at the expense of 100 million people then that means you are digging your own grave with your own hands .
Sudan does not have the water resources to become the bread basket of the Arab world , Sudan total yearly renewable water resources is between 40 billion to 50 billion cubic meters from rain , rivers and ground water .
Sudan is a tropical country which does not make it suitable for growing strategic crops like Wheat , an acre in Sudan only gives one ton of wheat while in Egypt its around 3-3.5 tons .
Sudan can be a major supplier of Corn , Vegetables and fruits but again many countries produce these products and Sudan lacks the technology , trained labour and infrastructure to reach this position .
South Sudan was rich in Water but they are a separate country now and you cannot add it as part of Sudan . Sudan does have over 100 million acres of fertile land but lacks water resources to grow it . You need atleast 500 billion cubic meters of water on yearly bases to grow on this amount of land under the condition Sudan uses high tech irrigation systems . An acre of land requires between 4000 to 6000 meter cubes of water to grow in the 3 seasons each year ( crop rotation ) , this value could go down if you utilize greenhouses but sudan lacks Expertise and funds to invest in something like that .
As I mentioned before your country does not have the resources to become a bread basket , the only way to increase your yearly total renewable water resources would be by building expensive wells to use Sudan's under ground water but this requires expensive investments and foreign investors would prefer to invest in countries rich in Water like Argentina , Ukraine and India whom have way more water resources than Sudan .
Sudan though has the capacity to become a major supplier of beef for the whole Arab world , it has over 20 million cattle head and if Sudan invests in high tech farming it can produce atleast 6-7 million tons of red meat which would meet most of the Arab world requirements under the condition cattles are slaughtered at 450 KG .
According to Fao sudan total renewable water capacity is 37.8 billion per year .
http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/SDN/
Sudan failure is because of the backward government currently running it , the MB/Islamists failed in every country they ruled , when you get rid of them then Sudan will have a chance to reach its potential .
The mining industry in Sudan especially Gold is dominated by Janjaweed/Rapid Deployment Forces and other loyalist militias. Nothing reaches the central government budget and these groups are left by Albashir to mine illegally in return for their loyalty .