August 30, 2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Cairo, Egypt
Officials from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan said their countries have resumed
negotiations over a controversial dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile River's
main tributary.
In July, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said they are keen to reach an agreement on the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam within four months on the Blue Nile.
Before winding northward through Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, the Blue Nile meets the White Nile in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.
Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, relies almost entirely on the Nile to supply water for agriculture and its more than 100 million people.
The Egyptian Irrigation Ministry announced the new round of talks in Cairo, with Irrigation Minister Hani Sewilam stating Egypt wants a legally binding agreement on how the giant dam is operated and filled.
"There are many technical and legal solutions for the dispute," he said, as quoted by the Associated Press.
After the Ethiopian government began filling the dam's reservoir before reaching an agreement, tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa rose.
Ethiopia said the dam is essential, as most of its people lack electricity.
To avoid flooding and protect its own power-generating dams on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile, Sudan wants Ethiopia to coordinate and share data on the dam, which is located just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Sudanese border.
News from Egypt
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