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The three African nations say they failed to agree on a new approach to resolving the dispute over Ethiopia’s mega-dam project.
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan once again failed to agree on a new negotiating approach to resolve their years-long dispute over the controversial dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River.
In late October, the three African nations resumed virtual talks on the filling and operation of the $ 4 billion Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project, which began construction in 2011.
The renewed talks followed comments by US President Donald Trump, in which he said that Egypt downstream could end up “blowing up” the project, which Cairo has called an existential threat. The comments angered Ethiopia.
The Foreign and Irrigation Ministers of the three nations met last week and delegated experts from their countries to discuss and agree on an approach to make the talks fruitful.
But differences persisted and Wednesday’s meeting failed to close the gaps, said Mohammed el-Sebaei, a spokesman for Egypt’s Irrigation Ministry.
Sudan’s Water Ministry said in a statement: “The water ministers of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have agreed to end this round of negotiations on the Nile dam in Ethiopia.”
“This round … did not achieve any tangible progress,” the statement said.
Sudan’s Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas said the talks made no concrete progress and Egypt opposed a Sudanese proposal backed by Ethiopia to maximize the role of African Union (AU) experts.
Ethiopia said the countries “were unable to reach full agreement” on issues such as “the basis for the next negotiation and the time frame.”
He said they would go to the Chairman of the AU Executive Council and the South African Foreign Minister “to consult on the next steps.”
Over the years, multiple rounds of talks have failed to reach agreement on the filling and operation of the vast reservoir behind the 145-meter (475-foot) high hydroelectric barrier.
‘Big risk’
Key questions remain about how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs and how the three countries will resolve any future disputes.
Ethiopia rejects binding arbitration in the final stage of the project.
El-Sebaei, the Egyptian spokesman, said the three countries would separately report their positions to South Africa, which heads the AU.
Ethiopia is building the dam on the Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile in Sudan to become the Nile River, the longest in the world and a lifeline that supplies water and electricity to the 10 countries it passes through.
About 85 percent of the river’s flow originates from Ethiopia, whose officials expect the dam, now more than three-quarters complete, to reach its maximum power-generating capacity in 2023.
Ethiopia views the project as essential for its electrification and development and insists that downstream water flow will not be affected.
In July, Addis Ababa declared that it reached its first-year goal to fill the mega-dam’s reservoir, which can hold 74 billion cubic meters (2.6 billion cubic feet) of water.
But Egypt and Sudan have expressed concern that the dam will reduce the flow of Nile waters to their countries.
Egypt relies heavily on the Nile to supply water for its agriculture and its more than 100 million people, while Sudan has warned that millions of lives would be at “great risk” if Ethiopia unilaterally fills the dam.
On Wednesday, Sudan said it “cannot continue negotiating without an end and must guarantee the safety of its water facilities.”
Sudan and Egypt have long called for a political solution to the dispute, rejecting any unilateral action by Ethiopia.
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