Senegalese Message to Egyptians on Al-Nahda Dam… Delayed Support for an Urgent Crisis

11th July 2021

1 minute read

Egypt has affirmed Senegal’s solidarity with it in the crisis of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, half a year before the African Union presidency of Dakar.

Senegal will assume the AU presidency in February, succeeding Congo, the current AU chairman.

On Saturday, Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Macky Sall said Senegal supports the Egyptian people’s rights to the Nile waters.

According to the Egyptian statement, Sal affirmed his country’s efforts to find a radical solution to the crisis of Al-Nahda Dam, in response to a message he received from his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, which was conveyed by Minister of Trade and Industry Nevin Gami.

The “Jama’a” is the head of Egypt’s largest trade mission to Central and West African countries, and a delegation from major Egyptian companies is participating.

At dawn on Friday, members of the UN Security Council endorsed the AU’s mediation efforts between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan in the dispute over the operation of the Nahda dam.

Egypt and Sudan have called on the council to act to help resolve the conflict after Ethiopia this week began filling the dam’s reservoir for the second year, and Ethiopia opposes Security Council intervention.

The Al-Nahda dam, which Addis Abeba is about to complete with the start of the second phase, is still a source of disagreement between the two countries of origin, Egypt and Sudan.

A few days ago, Egypt and Sudan said that Ethiopia had officially informed them of the start of the second phase of filling Nahda Dam Lake, which was categorically rejected by Cairo and Khartoum.

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have been negotiating since 2011 to reach an agreement on the filling and operation of the Nahda dam, the largest hydroelectric power source in Africa with a capacity of 6500 megawatts.

Ethiopia denies the existence of potential damage to the dam to the two States of destination and maintains that it promotes the integration of the three States and protects them from risk.