Intel: How this week’s US-sponsored Nile talks buoy Egypt
The US administration deepened its involvement in trilateral talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the filling of a massive new dam on the Nile River this week, to Cairo’s relief.
The US administration deepened its involvement in trilateral talks between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the filling of a massive new dam on the Nile River this week, to Cairo’s relief. In a joint statement Monday evening following a meeting of foreign ministers in Washington, the four nations and the World Bank agreed to develop rules and guidelines regarding “drought mitigation measures” for the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, or GERD.
Why it matters: Ethiopia began construction of the 6,500-megawatt dam across the border with Sudan in 2011 to provide electricity for its rapidly growing middle class. Egypt, however, is worried about the dam’s impact on the Nile, which it relies on for 90% of its water needs, leading Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to request US President Donald Trump help mediate during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit in September. The first Washington meeting on the dam took place on Nov. 6.
