Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday criticized Ethiopia's intention to proceed with the second phase of filling its megabarage on the Nile, during his first visit to Sudan since the ouster of former President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. "
We reject the policy of imposing a fait accompli and extending control over the Blue Nile via unilateral measures without taking into account the interests of Sudan and Egypt,
" he said. affirmed in a statement broadcast by Sudanese television.
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The Egyptian president was speaking after talks with the head of the Sudanese Sovereign Transitional Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, and with Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok.
Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have been leading negotiations for nearly a decade regarding the management and filling of the Renaissance Grand Dam reservoir on the Blue Nile.
The project launched in 2011 is intended to become the largest hydroelectric facility in Africa.
Egypt, which depends on the Nile for around 97% of its irrigation and drinking water, sees the dam as a threat to its water supply.
Sudan hopes the dam will regulate annual flooding but fears its own dams will be damaged if the second phase of filling is initiated before an agreement is reached.
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Addis Ababa, which announced in July that it had achieved its goal of filling the dam for the first year, says it wants to continue the filling process, whether or not an agreement is reached.
Egypt and Sudan have "
agreed to relaunch negotiations through quadripartite mediation including the African Union, the United Nations, the European Union and the United States ... in order to reach an agreement before the flood season.
"Sissi said on Saturday.
President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Félix Tshisekedi, currently head of the African Union, pledged on February 7 to seek a solution to the dispute.
The Nile, which flows for some 6,000 kilometers, is an essential source of water and electricity for a dozen countries in East Africa.