Egypt and Sudan suspend Nile River dam talks with Ethiopia
The two countries disagreed with new guidelines from Ethiopia on filling the GERD just days into the resumed negotiations.
The latest talks involving Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on Ethiopia’s Nile River dam have broken down just days after they began. The development puts the future of negotiations on the controversial mega dam in jeopardy.
Egypt and Sudan suspended the African Union-sponsored talks following a new disagreement with Ethiopia, The Associated Press reported today.
Ethiopia began filling the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in July following years of talks with the downstream nations Egypt and Sudan. The GERD is on the Blue Nile River, which is a tributary of the Nile River. The dam was built to provide electricity to Ethiopia, but Egypt and Sudan are concerned filling the dam could dangerously lower the water levels of the river in their country. The Nile and its tributaries flow northward in East Africa through Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt until the Mediterranean.
The latest round of talks began on Monday following earlier controversial news regarding the filling. In mid-July, Ethiopian news outlets reported that the country had begun filling the dam sans an agreement with Egypt and Sudan. Hours later, Ethiopian officials denied this, saying heavy rainfall led to increased water levels in the dam. Ethiopia then said that the first year of filling was over and called for new talks.
