France, Sept. 13 -- As climate change intensifies competition over water resources, the River Nile has become a symbol of both development and dispute. RFI speaks to a climate diplomacy expert to understand what's at stake.

This week, Ethiopia inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the River Nile - Africa's largest hydroelectric project, with an eventual capacity of 5,000 megawatts.

The GERD project promises to transform access to electricity in Ethiopia, and generate export revenues by selling power to neighbouring countries.

But downstream, Sudan and Egypt view the dam as an "existential threat".

Both rely heavily on the Nile's waters, and fear the project could jeopardise their supply.

As climate change takes hold, dis...