Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, has asked for faster talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, the giant hydropower project Ethiopia is building on the Nile. He made the call on Thursday in a meeting with Ethiopia’s foreign minister, Gedu Andargachew. Egypt’s foreign ministry said Shoukry would seek a meeting at the earliest chance among the foreign and irrigation ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan. The talks were held on the sidelines of an African Union gathering of foreign ministers on the situation in Sudan.
Shoukry stressed that the parties should stick to what they had already agreed. The dam, planned at about 6,000 megawatts, is the project Ethiopia hopes will make it Africa’s largest power exporter. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan signed a 2015 declaration that gave downstream countries priority for power from the dam, set a way to handle disputes, and provided for compensation if damage occurred. A series of meetings since then had not produced a deal on water flows and the other open differences.
Egypt fears the dam will cut the Nile water it depends on. Ethiopia says the project will not have that effect. The scheme, valued at about 4 billion dollars, had been due for completion in 2020, but Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in August 2018 that it would be delayed by several years. The June request did not close the gap. It put ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation back on a calendar, with Sudan in the room, while the reservoir and the powerhouse were still rising on the Blue Nile.
Sources: Ahram Online