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A new round of talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan began on Saturday, authorities said, with the aim of resolving a year-long dispute over a giant dam that Addis Ababa is building on the main tributary of the Nile River.
The three-day talks are taking place in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, current president of the African Union (AU).
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Cairo wants the negotiations to eventually lead to a legally binding agreement on the operation and filling of the huge reservoir of the dam.
Ethiopia has rejected a legal framework, saying it prefers a negotiated bilateral agreement.
The foreign and irrigation ministers of the three nations attended the talks, along with experts from the African Union, according to Ethiopian Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele.
A Sudanese diplomat said experts from the three countries and the African Union met on Saturday, before ministers met on Sunday and Monday.
Sudan said it will participate in the Kinshasa round with the aim of agreeing on a “negotiating approach” to ensure the talks are constructive.
That would include an Egyptian-backed Sudanese proposal to include the United States, the EU and the UN as mediators alongside the AU, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Ethiopia has rejected the proposal, saying it “believes in solving African problems by the Africans.”
The dispute centers on the rate at which a planned reservoir behind the dam fills, the method of its annual replenishment, and the amount of water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs.
Another point of difference is how the three countries would resolve any future disputes.
Egypt and Sudan want a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam, while Ethiopia insists on the guidelines.
The Kinshasa talks come a few days after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said that part of the waters of his country’s Nile River was “untouchable,” a stern warning apparently for Ethiopia, which is preparing for another stage of filling the dam later this year.
The Sisi warned Tuesday of “instability that no one can imagine” in the region if the dam is filled and operated without a legally binding agreement.
Bekele said Ethiopia “as always is determined to use principles based, equitable and reasonable without causing significant harm,” according to Ethiopia’s official news agency.
Egypt said on Wednesday that units of its Air Force and commandos held war games with Sudanese troops, a day after El Sisi’s stern warning.
Egypt is a mostly desert country that relies on the Nile for almost all its water needs. He fears that a rapid filling would drastically reduce the flow of the Nile, with potentially serious effects on his agriculture and other sectors.
Ethiopia says the $ 5 billion dam is essential, arguing that the vast majority of its population lacks electricity. The dam will generate more than 6,400 megawatts of electricity, a massive boost to the country’s current production of 4,000 megawatts.
Sudan wants Ethiopia to coordinate and share data on the operation of the dam to prevent flooding and protect its own power-generating dams on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River.
The Blue Nile meets the White Nile in central Sudan. From there, the Nile winds north through Egypt and empties into the Mediterranean Sea.
Updated: April 4, 2021 12:02 pm
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