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FILE PHOTO: Water flows through Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam as construction work is underway on the Nile River in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz region, Ethiopia, September 26, 2019. REUTERS / Tiksa Negeri /
CAIRO – December 27, 2020: In a phone call on Saturday, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and his South African counterpart and African Union (AU) President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed the tripartite talks on the Great Dam of the Ethiopian Renaissance (GERD).
President Sisi reaffirmed the foundations of the Egyptian position that orders the crystallization of a binding legal agreement between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on the rules of operation of dams and filling of reservoirs.
The president stressed that Nile water is an existential problem for Egypt and its people and expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by President Ramaphosa.
For his part, the AU president praised Egypt’s efforts to reach solutions to the disagreement, stating that coordination between the two countries continues over the next period to conclude a fair and balanced agreement.
The call also covered aspects of bilateral cooperation and ways to serve other African states both at the AU level and internationally.
The controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will begin the first round of power generation in June 2021, Ethiopian Fana Broadcasting Corporate SC’s Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy reported in November.
“In June 2021, the dam will begin its first round of power generation,” he said during an online conference at University College London (UCL).
Ethiopia’s announcement to generate power comes amid the rejection of the other countries downstream of the Nile. [Egypt and Sudan]. Four days ago, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok affirmed that GERD directly affects his country and stated that it should not be operated until an agreement is reached.
Earlier, Sudan decided not to participate in the tripartite meeting with Egypt and Ethiopia in the next round of tripartite meetings.
The three countries have held several meetings under the agency of the African Union (AU) in recent months, but reached a stalemate in each round they held on the technical and legal points of contention.
