Ethiopia and Egypt are at odds over the commencement of filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
The latest round of talks held to resolve the
disagreement over the Grand Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia (GERD) on the
Nile River ended on Monday without a “breakthrough”, Addis Ababa said
blaming parties for “excessive” demands.
The
negotiations, under the African Union chairman South African President
Cyril Ramaphosa, were seeking to determine whether Ethiopia could begin
filling the dam, the largest reservoir in Africa, without limiting the
water supplies in Sudan and Egypt, which the downstream countries see as
a threat to their citizens’ livelihood and economies.
But
after ten days, Ethiopia’s Minister for Water, Irrigation and Energy,
Dr Seleshi Bekele, said there had been no breakthrough, and blamed
Khartoum and Cairo for raising new demands.
“Unchanged
stances and additional and excessive demands of Egypt and Sudan
prohibited the conclusion of this round of negotiation by an agreement,”
Dr Seleshi said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The
countries have managed to reach an understanding on their interests
instead of reiterating their positions. Ethiopia would like to stress
that a negotiated agreement is the only way out,” he said.
Both Ethiopia and Egypt admitted the absence of a comprehensive agreement will “pose a challenge.”
But while both pledged to remain flexible in
the talks, Addis Ababa said Khartoum and Cairo do not want to compromise
on a number of issues.
GERD has a
projected capacity of 6,000 megawatts of electricity upon completion and
has been built at a cost of $4.5 billion. The project, however, has
been contentious over its filling and operation. Sudan and Egypt demand
specified technical arrangements to ensure the volume of water
downstream is not cut or reduced.
Sticking points
Sudan’s
Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasser Abbas told the media
on Monday that more talks will be held after the three countries and the
mediators – President Ramaphosa, the Bureau of African Union – review
the report of the first phase of negotiations.
Sudan
said there are “four or five sticking points” on technical arrangements
such as the volume of water to be allowed through the dam every day.
Riparian countries argued for more daily discharge water compared to
Ethiopia’s position, he said.
For his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said that his country “regrets” the lack of agreement.
"Cairo
has shown much flexibility and understanding over GERD issues and
Ethiopian needs, but once again the round ends with no agreement," Mr
Shoukry told Egyptian media on Monday night.
“We
were looking forward to a change in some of Ethiopia's positions, but
they remained the same and we didn't reach consensus," he noted. Cairo
rejected a proposal from Addis Ababa to postpone settlement of disputes
until after signing of an agreement to fill and operate the dam.
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