Page 10 - AfrElec Week 17 2021

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Ethiopia rejects existing Nile

deals with Egypt, Sudan

ETHIOPIA ETHIOPIA had dubbed historic colonial agree- order to build the dam and end poverty,” Bekele
ments with Sudan and Egypt to share the Nile tweeted.
waters as “unreasonable and unacceptable,” He added: “It has become clear that there is a
and wants to continue talks on the GERD pro- conspiracy to thwart our efforts and undermine
ject under the existing African Union-brokered our very existence, so we must all persevere and
arrangement. do our part.”
“The threats made by downstream countries Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas
regarding the Renaissance Dam are useless,” confirmed earlier this week that the legal teams
Ethiopian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dina in his country are ready to file a lawsuit against
Mufti added in a briefing to reporters yester- the Ethiopian government over the Dam.
day, adding that his country is counting on the Ethiopia is building the $5bm GERD dam
resumption of the Renaissance Dam negotia- near the border with Sudan, which it says will
tions under the auspices of the African Union provide the country with much-needed electric-
(AU). ity and economic regeneration. Egypt believes it
Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and will restrict its access to Nile waters.
Energy Seleshi Bekele recently said that the Egypt is almost entirely dependent on Nile
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) water, receiving around 55.5bn cubic metres per
formed part of his country’s right to develop its year from the river, and believes that filling the
economy. dam will affect the water it needs for drinking,
He claimed that there was a “conspiracy” to agriculture and electricity.
thwart the construction of the dam and even to Cairo wants Ethiopia to guarantee Egypt will
“undermine the existence” of Ethiopia, in light of receive 40 bcm or more of water from the Nile.
the faltering negotiations between Cairo, Khar- Ethiopian Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele
toum and Addis Ababa over the dam crisis. said Egypt has abandoned this demand, but
Talks have been rumbling on for years with- Egypt insists it hasn’t and issued a statement to
out achieving any significant breakthrough. this effect.
“The Renaissance Dam is a right of our coun- There is also an unresolved issue over how
try to develop freely, and all Ethiopians must fast the dam will be filled, with Egypt fearing if it
unite, understand and stand together through is filled too quickly, it could affect the electricity
the main challenges facing our country today in generated by the Aswan High Dam.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 17 29•April•2021