The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, emphasized on Saturday that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), currently under construction by Addis Ababa, and which is a source of concern for Cairo and Khartoum, will benefit everyone.
Following his visit to Cairo and meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Ahmed stated that the Nile waters have been sufficiently stored to tackle drought conditions. The Ethiopian Premier stressed, “We do not intend to harm our neighbours, and the Nile River strengthens relations among the regional countries.” He added, “We share the Nile River with the basin countries in a spirit of trust and honesty.”
Ahmed also called for cooperation with Egypt “to achieve sustainable development and establish a genuine partnership to realize the aspirations of our peoples.” Last Thursday, al-Sisi and Ahmed agreed to finalize a draft agreement on the filling and operation of the dam within four months.
A joint statement published by the Egyptian Presidency mentioned that the two leaders “discussed ways to overcome the current stalemate in the negotiations on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.” According to the statement, they agreed to “start urgent negotiations to finalize the agreement between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan on filling the Renaissance Dam and rules of its operation within four months.”
This meeting took place on the sidelines of the meeting of countries neighbouring Sudan, in an attempt to resolve the crisis caused by the power struggle between the army and the rapid support forces.
Mubarak Ardol, a former leader of one of the rebel groups in Sudan and is considered close to the army, wrote on his Twitter account, “Despite our (Sudan’s) absence, we fully support this bilateral statement on the Renaissance Dam.” He added, “Sudan will surely soon join to make the agreement tripartite, without external mediators.”
The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, praised the leaders’ meeting and “their joint decision to strengthen bilateral relations, including resuming negotiations to resolve outstanding issues concerning the Renaissance Dam for the benefit of their peoples.”
