The African Union (AU) seeks to overcome the current issues in the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam negotiations that have been ongoing for nearly two weeks now under its auspices.
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have yet failed to reach an agreement on the technical and legal issues of rules for filling and operating the GERD.
Tripartite talks continued for the 11th and last day in the presence of the Ministers of Water Resources of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia and the attendance of observers from the US and the EU.
Despite its late interference in the nearly 10-year issue, the AU held a virtual summit last June with the participation of Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Sudanese leaders, as well as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, AU’s current president.
The talks led to the formation of a committee to resolve legal and technical issues and reach an agreement within two weeks. The technical and legal talks are scheduled to be concluded on Monday, with each country submitting its final report on the results of the negotiations to South Africa.
This comes in line with the Egyptian request to submit the case to the UN Security Council.
In a statement on Monday, the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said Ethiopia still insists on its demands and position on the technical and legal parts of the agreement.
“This reduces the chances of reaching an agreement,” the statement read, adding that Egypt considered these technical and legal parts are “the backbone of the agreement.”
Cairo fears the potential negative impact of GERD on the flow of its annual share of the Nile's 55.5 billion cubic meters of water, while Addis Ababa says the dam is not aimed at harming Egypt or Sudan’s interests, stressing that the main objective is to generate electricity to support the development process.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia has denied starting the unilateral filling of the dam reservoir, in an attempt that seemed to reassure Cairo and prevent the failure of the negotiations.
Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew denied Monday reports circulated by local media claiming that his country started already filling GERD since July 8.
In statements to Al- Ain news website Andargachew stressed that his government has never issued such an announcement, adding that he will hold accountable all media outlets that circulate these rumors.
