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Sudan appeals to UN Security

Council to progress GERD talks

SUDAN THE Sudanese government has appealed to the generally sided with Egypt, which wants to main-
UN Security Council to break the deadlock in tain its water rights from the River Nile.
talks between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on the Egypt has also been dismissive of recent AU
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). efforts to broker agreement, claiming that the lat-
This follows the latest failed round of talks in ter’s involvement has failed to deal with Ethiopia’s
Kinshasa, brokered by the Democratic Repub- continued unilateral filling of the dam.
lic of Congo, which holds the African Union The two nations have for years been pressing
presidency. Ethiopia to enter a legally binding deal that cov-
In a letter addressed to Ambassador Dang ers mechanisms for handling persistent drought
Dinh Quy, Permanent Representative of Viet- and resolving future disputes.
nam, who holds the presidency of the UN Secu- Ethiopia is building the 6,500-MW GERD
rity Council for April 2021, Sudanese Foreign hydro project in a bid to drive economic develop-
Affairs Minister Maryam El Sadig El Mahdi ment and to meet rising demand for electricity.
warned that the “the latest developments related Ethiopia has rejected calls for wider international
to the GERD negotiations… may have serious involvement in the talks, and is likely to oppose
negative impact on the situation in Sudan, the any efforts by the UN.
neighbouring countries, and would cast a neg- The EU and the US have both affirmed their
ative shadow over the peace and security of the willingness to mediate in the negotiations on the
region as a whole”. GERD, between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.
“The AU-led process, which started in June The current efforts come a week after Egypt
2020, has [made] no significant progress due to and Sudan rejected a new Ethiopian initiative
[a] lack of goodwill [to] explore efficient meth- to share data ahead of Addis Ababa’s planned
ods,” El Mahdi added. second filling of the Nile Dam reservoir in the
El Mahdi’s letter asked the UNSC to “take note summer.
of the stalled negotiations under the auspices of Ethiopia made the overture on the basis of the
the African Union… to encourage all parties to 2015 Declaration of Principles the three coun-
refrain from taking unilateral actions…” and “to tries signed on Ethiopia’s $5bn GERD dam on
support the efforts of Sudan calling for a medi- the main tributary of the Nile.
ation process… to negotiate an amicable agree- Ethiopia’s plan to fill the dam further comes
ment on the filling and operation of the GERD after it let 4.9 bcm of water into the dam in sum-
and to immediately resume negotiations in good mer 2020. The dam has a planned total capacity
faith with the aim of resolving the outstanding of 70 bcm.
issues and concluding a final comprehensive Ethiopia also intends to test two of the 6,475-
agreement as soon as possible.” MW hydro dam’s 16 planned turbines.
The Sudanese government said it was trying A 1958 colonial-era treaty gives Egypt 55 bcm
to safeguard the lives of more than 20mn peo- of annual volume from the Blue Nile, and Sudan
ple living downstream from the GERD. It has 38 bcm.™

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