https://www.reuters.

com/world/middle-east/egypt-sudan-urge-ethiopia-negotiate-seriously-
over-giant-dam-2021-06-09/

KHARTOUM, June 9 (Reuters) - Sudan and Egypt agreed on Wednesday to coordinate

efforts to push Ethiopia to negotiate "seriously" on an agreement on filling and operating a
giant dam it is building on the Blue Nile, a joint statement said.

The two countries, which are downstream from the dam, issued the statement after African
Union-sponsored talks remained deadlocked.

Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the Grand
Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Egypt fears the dam will imperil its water supply and
Sudan is concerned about the impact on its own water flows.

Talks overseen by the AU, aimed at reaching a binding agreement, have repeatedly stalled.

At talks in Khartoum, the Sudanese and Egyptian foreign and irrigation ministers agreed on
"coordinating the efforts of the two countries at the regional, continental and international
levels to push Ethiopia to negotiate seriously", the joint statement said.

https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-africa-business-egypt-sudan-
bb3e5fb7a6f60b20c4f7ca5d8cf2eb2a

Egypt and Sudan on Thursday called for the council meeting and sent their foreign ministers
to New York to appeal for council action, saying 10 years of negotiations with Ethiopia have
failed and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam or GERD is starting a second filling of its
reservoir which not only violates a 2015 agreement but poses “an existential threat” to 150
million people in their downstream nations.

The dam on the Blue Nile is 80% complete and is expected to reach full generating capacity
in 2023, making it Africa’s largest hydroelectric power plant and the world’s seventh-largest,
according to reports in Ethiopia’s state media. Ethiopia says the $5 billion dam is essential to
promote economic development and make sure the vast majority of its people don’t lack
electricity.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ethiopia’s water minister Seleshi Bekele Awulachew told the council that filling the reservoir
was part of the dam’s construction and the Security Council should not be involved in the
issue of Nile waters, saying no issue is further from its mandate of ensuring international
peace and security.

“The African Union is seized of the matter, and is ably facilitating our negotiation,” he said.
“Ethiopia believes an agreement is within reach, given the necessary political will and the
commitment to negotiate in good faith.”
Awulachew said the Security Council should encourage Egypt and Sudan to seriously
negotiate a settlement on the filling and operation of the GERD.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry and Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mariam al-Mahdi
blamed Ethiopia for lacking political will.

They urged the Security Council to approve a Tunisian-drafted resolution that would require
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to negotiate a legally binding agreement within six months under
AU auspices “that ensures Ethiopia’s ability to generate hydropower ... while preventing the
inflicting of significant harm on the water security of downstream states.”