Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan resume talks over controversial Nile dam

Ethiopia on Saturday (September 23) said that it has started a second round of negotiations with Sudan and Egypt over the controversial mega-dam which has been built on the River Nile by Addis Ababa, which has been the reason for long-running tensions between the three countries.

This month, Ethiopia announced that the Grand Renaissance Dam's fourth and final filling was completed, which was immediately condemned by Cairo, as it denounced the step as illegal.

Sudan and Egypt fear that the massive $4.2-billion dam will harshly decrease the share of Nile water they have been receiving and have appealed to Addis Ababa repeatedly to stop filling it till the countries reach an agreement.

After being at loggerheads for years over the issue, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in July agreed to finalise a deal within four months, as they resumed the talks in August.

ALSO READ | Ethiopia announces completion of filling of disputed Nile dam

"The second round of the tripartite negotiation among #Ethiopia, #Egypt, and #Sudan on the... annual operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (#GERD) has commenced today, September 23, 2023, in Addis Ababa," said Ethiopia's foreign ministry on X, formerly Twitter.

"Ethiopia is committed to reaching a negotiated and amicable solution through the ongoing trilateral process,” he added.

So far, the protracted negotiations over the construction of the dam, which have continued till 2011, have failed to finalise an agreement between Ethiopia and its downstream neighbours.

Egypt's existential threat?

The dam has been long viewed by Egypt as an existential threat as the country relies on the River Nile for 97 per cent of its water requirement.

The dam has been central to the development plans of Ethiopia and in February 2022, Addis Ababa said that it started generating electricity for the first time.

The huge hydroelectric dam at its full capacity can generate more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity. The hydroelectric dam is 1.8 kilometres long and 145 metres high.

This will double the production of electricity in Ethiopia to which only half of the 120 million people of the country currently have access.

WATCH | Gravitas: Libya suffers under heavy rain, bursting dams | Who built the faulty dams?

The stance of Sudan, which is mired currently in a civil war, has fluctuated in the years ahead.

The United Nations stated that Egypt could "run out of water by 2025" and regions of Sudan, where the Darfur conflict was mainly a war over access to water, have become increasingly vulnerable to drought because of climate change. 

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE