Last July, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed discussed and agreed with Egypt President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to continue the tripartite negotiations on the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Cairo.
According to this agreement, three weeks ago, the first technical experts of the dam negotiators of Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan met and discussed in Cairo, Egypt.
Also, the second round of discussion of technical experts was held last Saturday and Sunday in Addis Ababa.
After this discussion in which the dam negotiators, experts, and diplomats of Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan participated, both countries stated the issue.
According to the Minister of Water and Irrigation of Egypt, Hani Swelem, the negotiations in Addis Ababa ended without an agreement.
The minister objected to Ethiopia making unilateral decisions to fill the dam with water and said that such decisions would harm the ongoing tripartite negotiations.
However, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it regretted that Egypt is still asking for the observance of the colonial era agreements, and announced that it will continue its efforts to reach an agreement in a way that does not cause significant damage to the downstream countries.
Ambassador Seleshi Bekele, who is one of the Ethiopian negotiators of the dam, said that the second tripartite dialogue held in Addis Ababa was successful.
Egypt will host the third round of GERD’s tripartite technical experts negotiation in October.
Ethiopia has completed the fourth round of water filling of the Renaissance Dam.
This dam, which is the first in Africa in terms of power generation capacity, has cost more than 180 billion birr and 60 billion birr will be needed to complete the remaining construction.
The Dam will be completed in two years, and more than 40 billion cubic meters of water is currently in the dam.
