AfricaInfrastructure

Egypt poised to withdraw from latest Nile talks

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia are still unable to reach agreement about the US$4 billion dam project on the Blue Nile

Egypt has decided to pull out of talks over Ethiopia’s multibillion-dollar dam project on the Blue Nile.

Egyptian officials say this is to allow for internal consultations on a proposed new draft of filling guidelines from Ethiopia.

The US$4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is being built about 15 kilometres from Ethiopia’s border with Sudan. It will create Africa’s largest single hydroelectric power project, generating 6,000MW of energy.

The project has been the subject of extended discussions between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, with the countries yet to reach a resolution on how to share the waters.

While Ethiopia is bent on continuing with the project, Sudan has raised concerns about the dam’s safety and Egypt fears it could lead to water shortages upstream. There has been speculation that the project could lead to sub-regional conflict.

People living in Egypt get 90% of their fresh water from the Nile, of which the Blue Nile is the main tributary. The headwaters of the Blue Nile lie in the Ethiopian Highlands.

Negotiations suspended

There was uproar last month as reports said that Ethiopia had begun to fill the dam reservoir with no conclusion to the negotiations in sight.

In a statement, Egypt’s water ministry said that, together with Sudan, it has demanded a suspension of talks over the dam project. It said a draft proposal from Ethiopia contained insufficient detail of regulations on the operation of the dam or any legal obligations.

“Egypt and Sudan demanded meetings be suspended for internal consultations on the Ethiopian proposal,” the statement said.

It added that Addis Ababa’s draft also “contravenes what was agreed upon during the African Union summit”.

Different treaties

Sudan and Egypt now seem to be working on common lines after “invoking” a “historic right” over the river guaranteed by treaties concluded in 1929 and 1959.

Ethiopia, on the other hand, uses the Nile Basin Initiative co-operative framework agreement of 2010, which authorises irrigation projects and dams on the river and which has been signed by six countries whose waters depend on the river – but not Egypt and Sudan.

Yasser Abbas, Sudan’s minister of irrigation and water resources, said Khartoum will not participate in any negotiations under the terms currently set by Addis Ababa.

A report from Al Jazeera quoted him as saying: “This new Ethiopian position threatens the negotiations under the aegis of the African Union, and Sudan will not participate in negotiations which include the subject of sharing Blue Nile waters.

“Sudan will not allow the lives of 20 million citizens who live along the Blue Nile to be tied to an agreement on sharing the water of this river.”

E A Alanore

* Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online.
#asaaseradio
#TVOL

Source
Al Jazeera
Show More

Related Articles

Back to top button

Adblock Detected

ALLOW OUR ADS