Is latest Ethiopian proposal on Nile dam talks a play for time?
Ethiopia has called for a meeting of the African Union in a bid to break the stalemate in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with Cairo and Khartoum, something that is viewed by Cairo as a maneuver by Addis Ababa to play for time until the completion of the second filling stage of the dam.
CAIRO — Ethiopia has proposed holding a meeting of the African Union Assembly in a bid to end the deadlock over the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) trilateral talks between Addis Ababa, Cairo and Khartoum, which have reached a dead end.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an April 21 statement, “[Ethiopia] still believes that the trilateral negotiations within the framework of [mediations] led by the African Union (AU) is the best way to achieve a win-win outcome for all.”
The statement cited Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as saying, “The assumption that the negotiations have failed is not true because the talks have actually achieved tangible results, notably the signing of the Declaration of Principles.”
The last round of talks, however, held in early April in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, failed to yield any progress toward resolving the GERD crisis.
