Reka

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  • Who Owns Lake Nyasa?

    http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/198-natural-resources/51849-who-owns-lake-nyasa.html

    By Courtney Meyer
    Think Africa Press
    August 21, 2012

    Disputes between Malawi and Tanzania over the ownership of Lake Nyasa, which borders the two countries, were rekindled recently when Malawi awarded a contract to British Surestream Petroleum to start gas and oil exploration on the eastern part of the lake. The 1890 Heligoland Agreement between colonial Britain and Germany defined that the border of Lake Nyasa lies along the Tanzanian side of the lake. This was reasserted at the 1963 Organisation of African Unity summit. International law, however, designates that borders are generally in the middle of a body of water, implying half of the lake belongs to Tanzania. Explorations for oil and gas are likely to endanger the current negotiations between the two countries to resolve the border issue and even pose a security threat.

    President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania has insisted that war with Malawi is not a feasible outcome of ongoing disputes between the two countries over the ownership of the lake which borders the two countries.

    Lake Nyasa, known as Lake Malawi by Malawians, has been the source of disagreements since colonial times, which were rekindled recently when Malawi allowed gas and oil exploration to begin around the lake’s border. Rhetoric has escalated over the past few months although it seems both sides are now attempting to calm tensions.

    #frontières #différend-frontalier #tanzanie #malawi #afrique