Sudan calls summit with Ethiopia, Egypt to resolve Nile Dam dispute

Sudan’s prime minister has invited his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts to a closed-door meeting to discuss the long-running dispute over Addis Ababa’s mega-dam on the Blue Nile, his office said.

The Blue Nile flowing through the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The project is passionately supported by the Ethiopian public despite the tensions it has stoked with Egypt and Sudan downstream AFP/File

Last week, talks involving the three countries hosted by the African Union chair, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), failed to reach a binding agreement over the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the filling of its vast reservoir.

Ever since the construction began on the $4.6 billion dam in 2011, Egypt – which depends on the Nile for some 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water – has regarded the dam as an existential threat to its water supplies, while Khartoum fears its own dams would be harmed if Ethiopia fills the reservoir without a deal.

Sudan’s prime minister has invited his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts to a closed-door video conference to discuss the long-running dispute over Addis Ababa’s GERD dam on the Blue Nilehttps://t.co/55MyZEcZb9

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“Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok invited his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouli and Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed to a summit within 10 days to evaluate the negotiations regarding GERD,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement late on Tuesday.

'Fallacies'

It said Hamdok expressed concern the dam’s construction had reached an advanced stage, making “reaching a deal before the start of operation an urgent and pressing matter”.

The statement said the planned summit will be held by videoconference.

Last week, Ethiopia offered to share data with Egypt and Sudan, but the proposal was rejected by Khartoum and Cairo which complained of “fallacies” in the figures and an “unacceptable tendency” by Addis Ababa to take unilateral steps.

In this June 28, 2013 file photo, construction work takes place, at the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near Assosa, Ethiopia. Pope Francis on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020 urged Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to continue their talks to resolve a years-long dispute over a massive dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile that has resulted in sharp regional tensions and led some to fear military conflict. AP - Elias Asmare

Ethiopia insists the power produced by the huge hydroelectric project is indispensable for its development.

But Egypt and Sudan have been pushing for a binding agreement before Ethiopia completes the filling of the dam’s vast reservoir which it began last year.

The tensions over the dam come as Sudan’s relations with Egypt warm while its relations with Ethiopia have been hit by a dispute over the use of farmland near the common border.

(with AFP)