2023-07-15 10:30:44
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stressed, on Saturday, that the Renaissance Dam, which Addis Ababa is building, and that Cairo and Khartoum fear its impact on them, will be beneficial for all.
In a statement following his visit to Cairo and his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Ahmed indicated that “Nile water is adequately stored to face droughts.”
The Ethiopian Prime Minister affirmed: “We will not intend to harm our neighbors, and the Nile River strengthens relations between the countries of the region,” explaining: “We share the Nile River with downstream countries in a spirit of trust and honesty.”
Ahmed also called for working with Egypt “to achieve sustainable development, and to establish a true partnership to achieve the aspirations of our two peoples.”
Al-Sisi and Ahmed agreed, on Thursday, to complete within 4 months of drafting an agreement on filling and operating the dam.
According to a joint statement published by the Egyptian presidency, the two leaders “discussed ways to overcome the current stalemate in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations.”
Negotiations between Ethiopia and the downstream countries will resume within four months
And they agreed, according to the statement, to “initiate urgent negotiations to finalize the agreement between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to fill the Renaissance Dam and the rules for its operation within 4 months.”
The meeting of the two leaders came on the sidelines of the meeting of Sudan’s neighboring countries, in an attempt to resolve the crisis it is witnessing as a result of the power struggle between the army and the Rapid Support Forces.
Mubarak Ardol, a former leader of one of the rebel groups in Sudan and close to the army, wrote on his Twitter account: “Despite our absence (Sudan), we fully support this bilateral statement on the Renaissance Dam.”
He added, “Sudan will surely join soon to make the agreement tripartite, without external mediators.”
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, also praised the two leaders’ meeting, and “their joint decision to strengthen bilateral relations, including the resumption of negotiations to resolve outstanding issues regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam for the benefit of their peoples.”
A meeting of the world’s billionaires.. The Renaissance Dam crisis to a solution
The roots of the crisis
Since 2011, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have been negotiating to reach an agreement on filling and operating the Renaissance Dam, but long rounds of negotiations between the three countries have not yet yielded an agreement. Although Egypt and Sudan have repeatedly urged Ethiopia to postpone its plans to fill the dam’s reservoir until a comprehensive agreement is reached, Addis Ababa announced on June 22 its readiness to launch the fourth phase of filling the dam’s reservoir, which has a capacity of regarding 74 billion cubic meters of water. Thursday’s statement carried an explanation of “Ethiopia’s commitment, during the filling of the dam during the hydrological year 2023-2024, not to cause significant harm to Egypt and Sudan, in order to provide the water needs of both countries.” Egypt relies on the Nile River for 97 percent of its water needs. In February 2022, Ethiopia officially launched electricity production from the dam, which it presents as among the largest in Africa. Its production target has been revised from 6,500 to 5,000 megawatts, twice Ethiopia’s current production, and it is expected to reach its full production capacity in 2024.
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