Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan resumed their years-long negotiations Sunday over the controversial dam Ethiopia is constructing on the Nile River’s principal tributary, officers mentioned.
The resumption of talks got here after President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed mentioned final month that they goal to succeed in inside 4 months an settlement on the operation of the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile. The Blue Nile meets the White Nile in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum, earlier than winding northward by means of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea.
Egypt fears a devastating impression if the dam is operated with out taking its wants under consideration. It known as it an existential risk. The Arab world’s most populous nation depends virtually totally on the Nile to provide water for agriculture and its greater than 100 million folks. About 85% of the river’s circulation originates from Ethiopia.
The Egyptian Irrigation Ministry introduced the brand new spherical of talks in Cairo. Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam mentioned Egypt needs a legally binding settlement on how the enormous dam is operated and stuffed.
Sewilam mentioned there are numerous “technical and authorized options” for the dispute, with out elaborating.
Tensions have heightened between Cairo and Addis Ababa after the Ethiopian authorities started filling the dam’s reservoir earlier than reaching an settlement.
Key questions stay about how a lot water Ethiopia will launch downstream if a multi-year drought happens and the way the three international locations will resolve any future disputes. Ethiopia has rejected binding arbitration on the last stage of the venture.
Ethiopia says the dam is crucial, arguing that almost all of its folks lack electrical energy.
Sudan needs Ethiopia to coordinate and share knowledge on the dam’s operation to keep away from flooding and shield its personal power-generating dams on the Blue Nile, the primary tributary of the Nile. The dam is situated simply 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Sudanese border.
