The African Union (AU) is expected to hold a mini summit to discuss the contentious mega dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River, which has triggered a major diplomatic standoff with downstream neighbors Egypt and Sudan.
The multimillion-dollar Great Ethiopia Renaissance (GERD) dam has been a source of friction in the Nile River basin since Ethiopia launched the giant project in 2011, with multiple rounds of tripartite talks ending in a stalemate.
Tuesday’s virtual meeting will be hosted by AU President and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Leaders from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, as well as officials from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Mali are expected to participate.
Observers from the United States, the European Union and the World Bank will also attend.
Ethiopia says the hydroelectric dam, which will be the largest in Africa, is a critical opportunity to lift millions of its nearly 110 million citizens out of poverty. She has long planned to start filling her tank this month, during its rainy season, though she hasn’t said exactly when.
But Egypt and Sudan are pushing for the three countries to first reach a legally binding agreement on how the dam would be operated during periods of drought and how disputes would be resolved.
Egypt, which depends on the Nile for almost 90 percent of its already limited water supply, fears that GERD will cause a detrimental water shortage. Last month, he accused Ethiopia of “intransigence” and appealed to the United Nations Security Council to intervene.
Meanwhile, Sudan will benefit from the project through access to cheap electricity and reduced floods, but it has also raised fears about the dam’s operation, which could jeopardize its own smaller dams, depending on the number of water discharged downstream daily.
A Sudanese official said the dispute should only be resolved “through negotiation.”
“Each country must benefit without harming the other,” an unidentified official told the AFP news agency on Monday.
“Ninety percent of the problems have been agreed, and we believe that 10 percent of the outstanding problems can be solved.”
The UN has asked all three countries to “work together” to resolve their differences on the project.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
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