GERD: Egypt Adheres to Negotiations, Ethiopia Once Again Proposes to Share Waters

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as it appears in a satellite image taken on July 20, 2020 (AFP)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as it appears in a satellite image taken on July 20, 2020 (AFP)
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GERD: Egypt Adheres to Negotiations, Ethiopia Once Again Proposes to Share Waters

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as it appears in a satellite image taken on July 20, 2020 (AFP)
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam as it appears in a satellite image taken on July 20, 2020 (AFP)

Ethiopia has once again disputed Egypt’s hegemony over the Blue Nile waters.

It wants a recently formulated final agreement to include sharing the Nile waters, affirming that Egypt receives the biggest share.

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew stressed that downstream countries reject Egypt’s hegemony over the use of the Nile waters.

“Ethiopia needs to build the mega-dam and must reflect the realism about the use of the Nile River,” his country’s official press agency quoted him as saying.

GERD is a slogan for all Ethiopians, he noted, expressing pride that his country is working to complete such a mega project with its own capabilities.

Addis Ababa could generate up to 30,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power from the Nile River, the FM stressed, adding that “this tremendous potential will enable the country to deliver electricity to all Ethiopians, expand industrial complexes, and create job opportunities, as well as improving services.”

Meanwhile, Egypt affirmed its adherence to the course of negotiations taking place among Addis Ababa, Cairo, and Khartoum on the rules for filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Spokesman of Egypt's Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources Mohamed al-Sibai said the African Union (AU)-sponsored talks are ongoing.

He pointed out that the three countries exchanged proposals for the final text of the agreement and chose both “legal and technical representatives from each country to participate in the merging of the three texts.”

Sibai noted that the unified final agreement is expected to be handed over to the AU Chief and South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Friday.

In a statement published on Monday, the spokesman refused to speak about the talks taking place.

Cairo fears the potential negative impact of GERD, which Addis Ababa is constructing on the Nile River, on the flow of its annual share of the Nile’s 55.5 billion cubic meters of water especially that it relies on it for more than 90 percent of its water supplies.

Addis Ababa, however, says the dam is not aimed at harming Egypt or Sudan’s interests, stressing that the main objective is to generate electricity to support its development.



Syria Expects First Transfer with US Bank 'Within Weeks'

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
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Syria Expects First Transfer with US Bank 'Within Weeks'

FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A view of the Syrian central bank, after the ouster of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo

Syria expects to have its first transaction with a US bank "in a matter of weeks", Syrian central bank governor Abdelkader Husriyeh said on Thursday, a day after a high-level meeting between Syrian and US commercial banks.

The resumption of transfers between Syrian and US banks would be a key milestone in the push by Syria’s new rulers to reintegrate the country into the global financial system after 14 years of civil war, Reuters reported.

Husriyeh on Wednesday held a virtual conference bringing together Syrian banks, several US banks and US officials, including Washington's Syria Envoy Thomas Barrack, with the aim of speeding up the reconnection of Syria's banking system to the global financial system.

This follows US President Donald Trump’s announcement in May that all sanctions on Syria would be lifted. That has been followed up with executive orders formally lifting some of the measures.

Syria's reintegration into the global financial system would be a major step towards enabling the kind of large financial transactions needed to kickstart its reconstruction and economic activity, and help rein in a highly informal, cash-based economy.

Husriyeh extended a formal invitation to US banks to re-establish correspondent banking ties following the ouster of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, whose crackdown on 2011 protests resulted in Western countries imposing one of the world’s strictest sanctions regimes.

"We have two clear targets: have US banks set up representative offices in Syria and have transactions resume between Syrian and American banks. I think the latter can happen in a matter of weeks," Husriyeh told Reuters.

Among the banks invited to Wednesday’s conference were JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and CitiBank, though it was not immediately clear who attended.