Dam on the Nile: resumption of negotiations in Kinshasa

Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan resumed Sunday April 4 in Kinshasa their negotiations around the Ethiopian mega-dam on the Blue Nile, a hydroelectric power station presented as vital by Addis Ababa and perceived as a threat by Cairo and Khartoum.

Read also: Dam on the Nile: "unimaginable instability" if we touch the water of Egypt, warns al-Sisi

"

These negotiations represent the last chance that the three countries must seize to reach an agreement,

" Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in remarks to Egyptian media.

This agreement should make it possible to "

fill and operate the Renaissance dam in the coming months and before the next rainy season

," he added.

"

The Kinshasa meeting sets itself the objective of triggering a new dynamic,

" said the host of the meeting, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, who also holds the annual presidency of the African Union (AU ) since February.

"

I invite you all to make a new start, to open one or more windows of hope, to seize all opportunities, to rekindle the fire of hope

", he pleaded, welcoming the will of the participants to "To

seek together African solutions to African problems

".

United States Ambassador Mike Hammer was also present at the opening of this meeting, which is due to end on Monday.

The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been a source of tension between the three countries since the foundation stone was laid just ten years ago in April 2011.

The dam is being built in northwest Ethiopia, near the border with Sudan, on the Blue Nile, an arm of the river that connects with the White Nile further north at Karthoum before continuing its course towards Egypt.

The GERD could become the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa with an announced capacity of nearly 6,500 megawatts.

Addis Ababa announced in October that the first phase of filling operations has been concluded in August 2020

Ethiopia says the hydroelectric power produced by the dam will be vital to meeting the energy needs of its 110 million people.

Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97% of its irrigation and drinking water, sees the Ethiopian dam as a threat to its water supply.

Sudan fears its own dams could be damaged if Ethiopia fully replenishes GERD before an agreement is reached.

Egypt "

has negotiated for the last ten years with a real political will to reach an agreement

", added the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

This agreement must ensure Ethiopia to meet its development goals while preserving "

the rights and interests

" of Egypt and Sudan.

"

If all parties present share political will and good intentions, then we can achieve the desired agreement that paves the way for cooperation

" in the region, concluded Mr. Shoukry.