Ethiopia calls for strengthening the role of observers in GERD Talks
Ethiopia has stressed the necessity to bolster the role of observers and experts within the years-long stalled negotiations on the controversial mega-dam it’s building on the Blue Nile .
Egypt and Sudan are calling for a legally binding agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s (GERD) filling and operation to ensure their water rights, while Ethiopia refuses to plan to any agreement that limits its capability to develop its resources.
Ethiopian State Minister of Foreign Affairs Redwan Hussein said Friday that the sensible thanks to overcome the dispute over the GERD is to continue and end the trilateral talks between Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa .
According to the Ethiopian press agency (ENA), Hussein involved bolstering the role of observers and experts to help the present African Union chair – the Democratic Republic of Congo – to barge the GERD talks.
He made his remarks during a gathering with ambassadors of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) and Latin American countries in Ethiopia.
Addis Ababa finished in July 2020 the primary phase of filling the reservoir, in preparation for its operation, achieving its target of 4.9 billion cubic meters. This year, it targets filling a further 13.5 billion cubic meters.
The latest round of talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in Kinshasa led to early April with no progress made.
Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the GERD, which Egypt fears will imperil its supply from the Nile. Sudan is additionally concerned about the impact on its own water flows.
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry stressed on Thursday Cairo’s readiness to exert the required effort to form the negotiations a hit .
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had previously announced that the second filling of the dam reservoir will plow ahead as scheduled within the next season in July/August.
Sudan’s Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas urged parties on Thursday to succeed in a legally binding agreement to exchange daily information on means of operating the dam to make sure that no party is harmed.
