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DR Congo-hosted GERD
talks end in failure
ETHIOPIA THE latest round of talks to find an agreement worried about downstream water supplies.
on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Ahead of the talks in DR Congo, Mohamed
Renaissance Dam (GERD) have ended in failure Abdel-Aty, Egyptian Minister of Water
in Kinshasa, DR Congo. Resources and Irrigation, warned that the uni-
Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt said in a joint lateral measures taken by Ethiopia in filling and
statement after the talks this week that no agree- operating the dam would result in huge negative
ment had been reached. repercussions for the region.
Egyptian and Sudanese officials blamed Ethi- The key problem is that all sides have failed to
opia for the failure, saying that Addis Ababa had reach a definitive legal agreement on filling the
not to shown good faith in the talks. dam. Egypt and Sudan consider this lack agree-
Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman ment to be a threat to their water security.
Ahmed Hafez said the talks failed after Ethiopia Downstream states Sudan and Egypt are
rejected a Sudanese proposal to bring in inter- worried that water management and power gen-
national mediators, such as the US, the Euro- eration operations at the dam in Ethiopia will
pean Union, the United Nations and the African damage water flow in the River Nile, threatening
Union. the economy of both states.
“This position reveals once again Ethiopia’s Ethiopia has stated it wants to reach a tri-
lack of political will to negotiate in good faith,” partite deal with the other two countries, while
Egypt’s foreign ministry said in a statement. Egypt and Sudan have wanted to bring in outside
Sudan’s foreign minister said Ethiopia’s uni- arbitration, such as the US, the African Union
lateral moves over the dam were a clear violation and the European Union. Addis Ababa has
of international law. refused to resort to official arbitration.
“Without a new approach to negotiations, Addis Ababa wants to have unrestricted
there becomes space for Ethiopia to impose a fait access to exploiting Nile waters on its territory,
accompli and put all the peoples of the region in and does not want to be bound by any agree-
grave danger,” Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi told ments with Sudan or Egypt that would regulate
reporters. or restrict that use.
The three-day meeting in Kinshasa was As Addis Ababa continues to complete the
hosted by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, dam and plans to fill it further in summer 2021,
who is also the chairman of the African Union. it will remain a bone of contention with Sudan
The 6,500-MW GERD project has been and Egypt, potentially damaging the project’s
under construction since 2011. Ethiopia started economic future.
to fill the dam in summer 2020, without the full The latest failed talks do not bode well for the
agreement of Egypt and Sudan, which are still future and risk increasing regional instability.
Week 14 08•April•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
