Is the Blue Nile a blessing or a curse to Ethiopia?

The word "Nile" (Arabic: 'nīl) comes from the Greek word Neilos (Νειλος), meaning river valley. There are two great Tributaries of the Nile: the White Nile, beginning in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile, beginning in Ethiopia. Both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift, the southern part of the Great Rift Valley. Another less important one is Atbara which flows only while there is rain in Ethiopia and dries very fast. The present Nile is at least the fifth river that has flowed north from the Ethiopian Highlands. The Nile ends in a large delta that empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The major dams on the Nile are the Roseries, Sennar, Aswan, and Owen Falls dams. The northern section of the river flows almost entirely through desert, from Sudan into Egypt, a country whose civilization has depended on the river since ancient times The Nile was an unending source of sustenance. The Nile made the land surrounding it extremely fertile when it flooded or was inundated annually. James Bruce (December 14, 1730 – April 27, 1794) was a Scottish traveler and travel writer who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) where he traced the Blue Nile. He stayed in Ethiopia for two years and finally, On November 14, 1770 he reached Lake Tana, the long-sought source of the Blue Nile.

We now invite you to read some interesting comments sent in by our readers.

The Blue Nile is a curse because Ethiopia has not used it. Egypt and Sudan can say it is a blessing and they would be correct. In fact, I remember reading that Egypt is even building a canal to take Nile water to the Sinai desert. This shows how much valuable it is and their hard work.
Gashaw, 40, Programmer
I don’t think the question is the right one. How can we say that something created by God can be a curse? The only curse in Ethiopia is that we simply don’t like to work.
Gezahegn,32,taxi Driver
Yes it is a big curse. This river everybody seems to love is a thief. It has been stealing virgin top soil from Ethiopia and dumping it in countries that if they could, would like someday to control its source. The Blue Nile just enriches others and keeps us forever poor.
Kendeya,30, Bar owner
The Blue Nile existed long before us so why should we consider it as a curse? Greedily and selfishly mankind classifies inanimate things as good or bad. This is arrogance. The river has no soul. It is just water flowing according to gravity.
Miheret,24, Shashemene
I have grown up being told that Abay takes Ethiopians fertile soil away to Egypt and also that that country is forever watchful Ethiopia does not stop the flow of rich soil. This is absolutely ridiculous and shows complete irresponsibility. All rivers wash away soil if the area is deforested. It is our reckless destruction of the forests that causes erosion, not the big bad Blue Nile.
Abebu,34,Nurse
Abay is a blessing . the very existence is a miracle, it feeds more than Ethiopia but also other countries who regard us as enemies because we have the Nile. Fortunately, it is there and that makes me feel that the future will be bright because we will use the Nile water someday.
Sendek,44, Sailor

Actually, we cannot classify the gift we receive from God and associate them with our poverty. Other man made problems made it impossible to use the water as a natural resource. So I believe that by arguing and talking we will not bring solutions. We just have to exploit the water through hard work.

Brook Shitto, Contractor

In the abundance of water…

By our staff reporter

Oh, the Blue Nile… a river so mighty and so majestic that Ethiopians, never short of names, were awed into calling it simply as ‘Abay’-the big one. The river is regarded, believe it or not, as a national savings account for that far off someday when Ethiopia will settle down long enough to finally afford to utilize the Blue Nile…something it would have done centuries ago, if it hadn’t been for the meddling of you- know who. So go conventional conspiracy theorists, a staple element of issues pertaining to this river.
The Blue Nile is a river the name of which flows in minstrel ballads, church hymns and odes to patriotism but has not figured as a source of wealth and sustenance as it does in Sudan and Egypt. The river and even Ethiopian winters are of greater significance to the 110 million people in those countries. For Ethiopia the Blue Nile is simply a permanent symbol of our shameful idleness and poverty amidst such an abundance of riches. Ethiopians even have a saying: ‘Ye Abayen lij weha temaw,’ an almost exact translation of that biblical proverb made so famous by Bob Marley- ‘in the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty’ (from Rat-Race Uprising). This is an apt analogy for the whole nation as we Ethiopians are children of the Blue Nile and yes, we have been and still are thirsty, parched and famished.
Whether this river is a blessing or a curse is a moot point. Of course it’s a blessing, even a great one. But it is also a curse because it signifies Ethiopia’s inability to better itself and reap the river’s bounty.