The fourth round of trilateral negotiations involving Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan commenced today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
These deliberations stem from the Joint Statement issued on July 13, 2023, by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia and President Abdel Fatah el Sisi of Egypt, signaling a commitment to expedited negotiations aimed at finalizing guidelines and rules governing the initial filling and annual operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Preceding the fourth round, a one-day meeting of technical experts from the three countries set the stage for the ministerial discussions.
The goal of these negotiations is to build upon the progress made in previous sessions, with a concerted effort to achieve convergence by the meeting scheduled for December 19, 2023.
Ethiopia remains guided by the 2015 Declaration of Principles (DoP) on the GERD Project. Specifically, the country will continue to advocate for consensual outcomes based on the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization of the waters of the Nile River.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, whose construction commenced 12 years ago, has currently reached 91 percent completion.
Funded by contributions from both Ethiopians and the government, this colossal project stands as the largest in Africa, boasting a power generation capacity of 5,200 megawatts.
For the past two years, two turbines of the Renaissance Dam, each with a capacity of 350 MW, have been actively generating power.
The overall cost of the dam has exceeded 180 billion birr to date, with an additional 60 billion birr required to finalize the remaining construction.
Anticipated to be fully operational within the next two years, the Renaissance Dam currently holds more than 40 billion cubic meters of water.
As the negotiations progress, the stakeholders remain focused on achieving a mutually beneficial agreement that upholds the principles of equitable water usage in the Nile River basin.
