Diplomatic sources told Egypt Today that Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, during his visit to Cairo, suggested holding a tripartite summit with the leaders of Egypt and Sudan on the sidelines of the 30th African Union Summit by the end of this month.
The sources added that Ethiopia and Sudan are currently consulting to resume halted talks by the tripartite technical committee on the Ethiopian Dam.
Desalegan announced on Sunday that his country rejects Egypt’s proposition of including the World Bank in the tripartite technical committee’s talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
“Based on our recognition of the importance of the continuity of the technical studies of GERD, Egypt is suggesting the participation of the World Bank at the tripartite discussions on GERD as a neutral [actor],” President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi stated on Thursday during a joint press conference with the Ethiopian prime minister.
On the other hand, Desalegn stated that the Renaissance Dam, 70 percent of which is completed, “will not affect Egypt negatively and that the dam represents a development factor for both countries,” adding that “we will not cause any harm to Egypt and its people.”
“We will never cause any harm to Egypt. We will do our best to guarantee a decent life to the sons of the Nile River. My country is ready to put an end to all the problems between the two countries,” Desalegn stated.
According to ENA, Desalegn noted that there is a gap in the information regarding the GERD project on the Egyptian side, and he emphasized the need to continue asserting the reality that Ethiopia’s development endeavors and the dam will not affect Egypt’s livelihood.
“Egyptians are not receiving genuine information about the source of Nile waters and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam," he said. In this regard, successful work has been done during the visit to explain everything to the Egyptian people and the world, he added.
During the Egypt-Ethiopia joint press conference, Sisi expressed concerns over the lack of progress in the negotiations of the construction of GERD. He explained that Egypt has never had any problems with the developmental goals of the Nile Basin states, as long as they do not harm Egypt’s interests.
Sisi said that he appreciated Ethiopia’s repeated assurances that the dam would not have a negative impact on Egypt. However, the required technical studies – set as a condition to determine the dam’s operational mechanism before filling the reservoir, according to the Declaration of Principles signed in 2015 between the three states (Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan) – must be completed and all sides should abide by their findings.
The president also stressed that GERD should neither harm Egypt's interests nor its share of Nile water in light of the brotherly relations between Egypt and Ethiopia. He said cooperation among the Nile Basin countries must not be a “zero-sum game.”
Talking to ENA, Desalegn also stated the trip was a success, which enhanced consensus between the leaders and further improved the relationship between the two countries.
Egypt and Ethiopia asserted the depth of the Egyptian-Ethiopian ties by signing a number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on Thursday at Al-Ittihadia Presidential Palace, which aim to boost the bilateral relations.
The two sides agreed to increase the economic cooperation between them in light of Egypt’s keenness to increase its investments in the Ethiopian market and to establish an Egyptian industrial zone in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Desalegn arrived in Cairo on Wednesday accompanied by a high-profile delegation to attend the sixth meeting of the joint Egyptian-Ethiopian Higher Committee. The last meeting was held three years ago and tackled bilateral cooperation in several fields, including education, health, agriculture and fisheries.
Desalegn’s three-day visit came within the framework of the joint Egyptian-Ethiopian Committee, which had been postponed several times since December.
Egypt did not halt technical studies on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), unlike some rumors circulated by media, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty told African, Arab, and foreign ambassadors in a meeting on Thursday.
Ethiopia and Sudan not responding to Egypt’s calls
The minister presented an overview of the latest updates on negotiations over the dam. He clarified that Egypt approved the report prepared by PRL Consulting on the guidelines that should be followed when conducting studies on the effects of the dam.
However, Ethiopia and Sudan reject the report, even though it depended on the documents approved by the three countries that were presented to the consulting companies. This has recently crippled the continuation of the studies.
Abdel Aty affirmed that, since May, Egypt has frequently called for holding meetings on the ministerial-level to reach a solution over the impediment in technical studies, but its demands were turned down by Ethiopia and Sudan, causing a delay in the studies for a long time.
The minister stressed that the Ethiopian and Sudanese stances on the issue in all previous meetings – up until the last meeting of the Tripartite National Committee on Renaissance Dam (TNCRD) hosted in Cairo on November 11 and 12 – contradicted all frameworks agreed upon at the beginning. Both countries also declined all propositions made by Egypt addressing their concerns.
Points of disagreement
Abdel Aty clarified that one of the main disagreements during negotiations is that Ethiopia and Sudan insist on not abiding by the documents endorsed by the three countries to be used in studies conducted by the consulting company.
The documents indicate that the base that must be used for determining the effects and possible damages of the dam is the current status of the eastern Nile Basin without the presence of the dam. However, Ethiopia wants the dam to be included, which goes against logic, against what is done in studies on dams with trans-border effects and against the contracts.
On the other hand, Sudan wants to include “future usages” of the dam when measuring the current status of the basin. It also refused Egypt’s proposition of depending on the water shares identified in the 1959 Agreement.
Sudan and Ethiopia also rejected an Egyptian proposition of not using data submitted to conduct the studies in another context, so that such data would not result in changing the current legal status of any party except for the execution of the studies and the Declaration of Principles signed by the three countries in 2015.
The minister expressed his surprise at the Ethiopian and Sudanese rejection of the proposition that would eliminate their concerns, as these data would not be used against Sudan in the TNCRD. The data prove that Sudan only uses its water shares as determined in the 1959 Agreement guaranteeing that all three countries would not change their status over the agreement, which is a concern to Ethiopia.
Abdel Aty added that Sudan and Ethiopia insist that the data used in the studies should not entail any duties or rights for involved parties. They also insist that parties do not have to abide by the results of the studies on the dam’s effects, which abolishes the purpose of conducting such studies in the first place.
Ethiopia wants to give directions to the consulting company, which contradicts the content of the contract on crucial aspects to include in the studies. For instance, Ethiopia wants the consulting company to disregard the dam’s effect on soil salinity and the subsequent economic, social and environmental effects, so that the dam would appear to not have any effect on Egypt, the minister said.
Abdel Aty clarified that Egypt would be affected the most by the dam established on the Blue Nile, as it is the last downstream country and because constructions are taking place without prior agreement on how the dam will be operated and filled based on clear studies explaining its effects.
Finishing the studies is in Egypt’s interest
This is why Egypt has been eager throughout the past seven years – since the Ethiopian unilateral measures to start constructing the dam – to accelerate the execution of the studies; so it is not logical that it would cripple or slow down the studies, unlike the allegations propagated, the minister asserted, adding that the suspension of the studies is in the interest of the party imposing a status quo on other parties.
Abdel Aty expressed his concern that Ethiopia has a tendency to push for starting the filling of the dam’s reservoir before the studies are finished and regardless of their results.
“However, Egypt renews its call for Ethiopia and Sudan to accept its propositions regarding their concerns and for Ethiopia to act professionally by not filling the reservoir until an agreement is reached based on the final report on the studies’ results, in accordance with the Declaration of Principles signed by the three countries in 2015,” the minister concluded.
Development of the issue
Construction of 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 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.
Since May 2011, Cairo has voiced its concerns over how the dam can 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 that it will not harm downstream countries.
Meanwhile, President 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’s construction is going faster than the tripartite talks. On October 1, The Telegraph reported that Ethiopia is finalizing the construction of the dam and will then start filling its reservoir.
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