Sudanese PM: Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam threatens safety of 20M Sudanese

CAIRO - 19 January 2020: Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok confirmed that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam threatens the safety of 20 million Sudanese citizens, noting that "their lives are dependent on the Blue Nile."

 

 

In a statement, the Sudanese Prime Minister expressed his rejection of Ethiopia's de-facto policy.

 

 

Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas said, on Monday, that Ethiopia's implementation of filling the Renaissance Dam is a violation of international law, stressing that negotiation is the only solution to solve the Renaissance Dam problem, according to Al-Arabiya.

 

 

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry confirmed, "We will have other options if the African Union does not solve the problem of the Renaissance Dam... We have provided conditions for the presidency of the African Union to return to meaningful negotiations on the Renaissance Dam."

 

 

Sudan had protested Ethiopia's announcement to continue filling the Renaissance Dam, as Omar Gamaruddin, the Sudanese Minister of Irrigation, stated, "We have expressed our protest against Ethiopia's intention to continue filling the Renaissance Dam to Ethiopia and the African Union. 

 

 

Also, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in statements, "We cannot continue in the vicious circle of negotiations on the Renaissance Dam."

 

Constructions in the Grand Renaissance Dam started on April 2, 2011 at a cost of $4.8 billion. It was built by the Italian construction and engineering company Salini Impergilo. The Italian company is headquartered in Milan. The dam is located on the Blue Nile with a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, and is expected to generate up to 6,000 megawatts of power.

 

The disagreement among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia dates back to May 2011 when Ethiopia started building the dam; Egypt voiced concern over its water share [55.5 billion cubic meters]. Three years later, a series of tripartite talks between the two countries along with Sudan began to reach an agreement, while Ethiopia continued the dam construction.

 

In 2015, the three countries signed the Declaration of Principles, per which the downstream countries should not be negatively affected by the construction of the dam. In October 2019, Egypt blamed Addis Ababa for hindering a final agreement concerning a technical problem, calling for activating Article No. 10 of the Declaration of Principles, which stipulates that if the three countries could not find a solution to these disputes, they have to ask for mediation.

 

The main point of disagreement at present is that Ethiopia does not want a binding agreement, which has caused the suspension of talks. An agreement was reached in January but Ethiopia did not attend the signing meeting in Washington. Later, several negotiations rounds took place but were in vain culminating into the current stalemate.