STORY: Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan resume talks over Nile dam dispute
DATELINE: Aug. 28, 2023
LENGTH: 00:00:57
LOCATION: Cairo
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Nile River
2. various of irrigation
3. various of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

STORYLINE:

A new round of negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan kicked off on Sunday in the Egyptian capital Cairo over the long-running dispute regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement.

Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam stressed the necessity of reaching a binding legal agreement on the rules for filling and operating the dam built in Ethiopia's section of the Nile River, saying the agreement should take into account the interests and concerns of the three countries, according to the statement.

After years of fruitless negotiations, the two downstream countries Egypt and Sudan hope to reach a binding legal agreement with upstream Ethiopia that regulates the filling and operation of the GERD.

Sewilam underlined the importance of stopping any unilateral action in this regard, adding that filling and operating the dam without a prior tripartite agreement is a violation of the Declaration of Principles signed by the three countries in 2015.

"Egypt continues to exert maximum efforts to make the negotiation a success," said the Egyptian minister, emphasizing Egypt believes that the availability of many technical and legal solutions would serve the interests of the three countries and help reach the desired agreement.

Ethiopia started filling the dam in 2020 despite the opposition of Egypt and Sudan, which eventually led to the suspension of relevant tripartite negotiations in 2021.

Addis Ababa announced in July that the fourth filling of the dam would extend until September and the downstream countries would not be harmed.

Ethiopia started to build the GERD in 2011 and expect the giant hydropower project to generate more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity, but Egypt and Sudan are worried that it might reduce their proportion of Nile water.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Cairo.
(XHTV)