DR Congo’s President will visit Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia to resume talks on GERD

CAIRO - 3 May 2021: President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Félix Tshisekedi, the current head of the African Union, will make a tour of three African countries [Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia] that are disputed over the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), announced Sudanese Foreign Minister Maryam Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi in media remarks after her meeting with Tshisekedi on Monday.

 

He told Mahdi that the tour will be soon, Sudanese news agency (SUNA) reported Mahdi, who is making an African tour of some African countries, included the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

Tshisekedi’s tour came in light of the resumption of the tripartite talks between the Nile countries over the controversial dam after the negotiations for reaching a legally binding agreement regarding the mechanism of the dam’s operation and filling its reservoir before the scheduled second phase of filling the reservoir due in mid-July.

 

He affirmed that he is in contact with the UN Secretary-General and the US envoy to the Horn of Africa to find a solution to the issue of the dam, said Mahdi.

 

During her visit to Uganda, Mahdi met with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, who pledged to contact the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abi Ahmed, as soon as possible, aiming at bringing all parties points of view closer on the dam issue and to start another round of ‘serious negotiations’ on this issue.

 

According to SUNA, Museveni stressed Uganda's support for ‘dialogue leading to the achievement mutual gains among all three parties of GERD.

 

Rounds of negotiations among Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia on the Ethiopian dam (GERD) have reached a deadlock several times with Egypt blaming the failure on Ethiopia’s intransigence.

 

Egypt and Sudan insist that a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam should be reached before Ethiopia implements the second phase of dam filling.

 

Ethiopia, however, says it will complete the dam filling in July with or without an agreement.

 

Egypt on April 13 sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council, calling on the international community to engage in advancing the stalled GERD talks and persuade Ethiopia to refrain from unilateral acts.