New round of tripartite meeting on Ethiopian dam kicks off in Cairo

CAIRO - 11 November 2017: A new round of the tripartite meetings between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia kicked off Saturday in Cairo to discuss some outstanding issues regarding the impact of the Ethiopian Renaissance dam on downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan, according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.


In the two-day meeting Water and Irrigation Ministers of the three states will try to reach a solution for the contentious points, the statement added.

On October 20, the three countries adjourned their meeting after an 11-hour discussion on disputed points in a report submitted by the two French consultancy firms (BRL and Artelia) on GERD’s potential impact on Sudan and Egypt.

The report aims to put certain guidelines by which Ethiopia can fill its reservoir without harming the water flow to the two countries. The $ four billion dam is being constructed on the Blue Nile with a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, and is expected to generate up to 6,000 megawatts of power.


Tripartite meeting between Water and Irrigation Ministers between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia in Cairo- press photo

Since May 2011, Cairo has voiced its concern that the dam could reduce the country’s annual share of more than 56 billion cubic meters of Nile water. Egypt’s average water per-capita is expected to drop from 663 cubic meters per year to 582 cubic meters by 2025, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) in 2014. Addis Ababa, however, claimed that the dam is necessary for its development and will not harm downstream countries.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi signed a tripartite joint cooperation agreement in Khartoum on March 23, 2015, between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. In December 2015, Sisi addressed the public, saying that there is no reason to worry about the dam and that the matter would be resolved. The three countries held 14 rounds of consultation on resolving the disputes over the Renaissance Dam. However, these rounds failed to solve the dispute.

Former Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hossam el-Moughazi stated in November 2015 that the dam construction is going faster than the tripartite talks. On October 1, the Telegraph reported that Ethiopia is finalizing the construction of the dam and then will start filling its reservoir.