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Egypt, Sudan express “deep concern”
about Ethiopia’s filling of the GERD
POLAND EGYPTIAN and Sudanese official have stated Ethiopia’s opposition to US involvement is
their deep concern about Ethiopia’s proposed also caused by new US sanctions against Addis
filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Ababa, imposing visa restrictions on Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam (GERD) this summer without and Eritrean officials accused of crimes related to
first reaching a binding legal agreement. the six-month conflict in Tigray region.
Egyptian and Sudanese ministers met this The region has seen bloody armed conflict
week in Khartoum and said that they had held between the Ethiopian government and the
positive talks as the two sides shared identical Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
views about Ethiopia’s actions. Meanwhile, Addis Ababa said that it had fol-
The two countries stressed that they wanted lowed the spirit of the African Union (AU)-spon-
to reach a compromise solution that would meet sored GERD talks carried out so far, and that it
the requirements of all three countries. was confident that talks would resume.
They also renewed their appeal to the interna- Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah
tional community, in Africa, the US and Europe, el-Sisi has courted French support, stressing to
to prevent Ethiopia effectively presenting a fait French President Emmanuel Macron that he is
accompli, the two countries said in a statement. determined to preserve his country’s water rights
The statement follows Ethiopia’s announce- to the River Nile.
ment at the start of May that it would again let Sisi said that he would reach “legal” and “fair”
water flow into the GERD dam in the summer agreement over the filling and operation of the
and begin power generation, even though there GERD.
was no binding agreement governing the matter. Ethiopia conducted its first filling in July 2020
Ethiopia intends to test two of the 6,475-MW with 5bn cubic metres. The total capacity of the
hydro dam’s 16 planned turbines. reservoir is 74 bcm, to be filled over several years.
Egypt and Sudan claim that Ethiopia is The dam is anticipated to become the largest
undermining mediation efforts. hydroelectric power station in Africa, with a pro-
Meanwhile, the US last week said it would jected capacity of 6,500 MW, to meet the needs of
continue diplomatic efforts to find a solution for Ethiopia’s 110mn people.
the GERD.
Week 23 10•June•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P9
