The African Union has asked Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia to seek a compromise to end their dispute on the filling and operation of the $4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
The Union also called on international partners to provide their immediate support to Sudan at this critical juncture of the transition in light of the serious economic situation it is facing.
Concluding a three-day working visit to Khartoum, capital of Sudan, on Friday, Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the 55-member pan-African bloc, said the object of his visit was to take stock of progress made in the peace process in Sudan, exchange views with national actors on the political and economic situation and assess implementation of commitments made in the Constitutional Declaration, signed by the parties in August 2019.
During his visit, the Chairperson held extensive consultations with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdock of the Transitional Government, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Sovereign Council, the Forces for Freedom and Change alliance, civil society organizations and personalities from the Opposition, as well with members of the international community in Khartoum, including the African diplomatic corps, the United Nations, the European Union and bilateral partners.
Mahamat stressed the need to maintain the momentum and rapidly consolidate the gains made since the beginning of the transition in Sudan, while starting to prepare for free, fair, and transparent election to complete the democratic transformation of the country.
Concerning the Renaissance Dam, Mahamat said the Nile River has always been a link between the people and states of Africa. “We, at the AU, demand our brothers in Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt to seek a compromise formula on this issue,” he said.
This week, a dispute emerged between Egypt and Ethiopia over the filling and operation of GERD, particularly after a last round of talks in Washington failed to reach a final agreement between the concerned parties.
Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan had expected to sign an agreement in Washington last week on the filling and operation of the dam, but Ethiopia skipped the meeting and only Egypt has initialed the deal thus far.
