The latest round of talks between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt to resolve differences over Ethiopia’s mega dam nearing completion on the Nile ended without agreement earlier this month.
Since November 2017 the parties have been in stalemate over the scope of impact studies which French consultants BRL and Artelia were commissioned the previous year to carry out.
Ethiopia sees its $4bn, 6GW Grand Renaissance Dam as a project of crucial national significance, more than doubling its power generating capacity, but Egypt worries it will stem the flow of the Nile, source of most of its water.
Talks were stalled during a political crisis in Ethiopia sparked by the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, but resumed on 5 April when Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry arrived in Sudan for the latest meeting attended by chiefs of intelligence and ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation of the three countries.
But they ended on 6 April without resolution.
Egypt’s position regarding the latest failure of negotiations is still under consideration, reports Al-Monitor.
Image: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, under construction on the Blue Nile, will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa (http://www.geosociety.org/)
