Egypt announces the failure of negotiations on the Renaissance Dam

Cairo-Sana

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced today the failure of negotiations on the Renaissance Dam due to disagreements between the states parties, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on how to resume the talks and the procedural aspects related to managing the negotiation process.

According to a statement by the ministry, Egypt confirmed, through its Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, and Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Ati, its readiness to engage in serious and effective negotiations in order to reach as soon as possible a legally binding agreement on the rules for filling and operating the Renaissance Dam, in implementation of the decisions of the African Union Bureau's meetings. Held at the summit level during the past months.

This position of Egypt came during the six-party meeting, which was held via video technology “conference” of the foreign and water ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia headed by the South African Foreign Minister in her capacity as the current chairman of the Executive Council of the African Union.

The statement indicated that Sudan adheres to the necessity to instruct the experts appointed by the African Union Commission to propose solutions to the controversial issues and to elaborate the Renaissance Dam Agreement, a proposal that Egypt and Ethiopia have reservations about, confirming the ownership of the three countries to the negotiation process and to preserve their right to formulate the texts and provisions of the agreement to fill and operate a dam Al-Nahda, especially as the AU experts are not specialists in the technical and engineering fields related to water resources management and dam operation.

In turn, the Sudanese Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources, Dr. Yasser Abbas, said: “During the meeting, his country requested a change in the methodology and method of negotiation and expanding the role of experts to the extent that they can play a fundamental role in facilitating negotiations and bridging the dispute, especially after the constructive bilateral meetings with experts yesterday on the need to define a reference The role of the experts is clear, "indicating that his country lodged a strong protest to Ethiopia and the African Union, the sponsor of the negotiations, on the speech sent by the Ethiopian Irrigation Minister to the African Union, Sudan and Egypt on the eighth of this month.

Since the month, the three countries have been negotiating the Renaissance Dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile.

In turn, the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa, Guy Pandor, expressed her regret at the dead end that the negotiations reached, indicating that she would refer the matter to the president of the current session of the African Union "to take what is necessary."

The Ethiopian Minister of Irrigation had announced his country's intention to continue filling for the second year next July at a rate of 13.5 billion cubic meters regardless of whether or not an agreement was reached, and that his country “is not obligated” to notify the downstream countries of the filling and operating procedures and exchange data about them, which constitutes a serious threat. For Sudanese water installations and half of the population of Sudan.