What failure of Nile dam talks means for Egypt and Ethiopia

Egypt and Ethiopia announced on Tuesday that the current negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), also known as Nile dam, ended without an agreement, potentially escalating tensions over the longstanding issue.

Egypt’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said in a Facebook post that the fourth and final round of the talks with Ethiopia and Sudan concluded in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The ministry blamed Ethiopia for the failure to reach a deal, referencing the east African country’s “persistent refusal” to accept any technical or legal compromises that would protect the involved countries’ interests.

The ministry further accused Ethiopia of negotiating in bad faith, saying Abbis Ababa is “exploiting the negotiation process as a cover to solidify a fait accompli on the ground” and negotiating for the “purpose of obtaining an instrument of approval from the downstream countries of an unregulated and absolute Ethiopian control of the Blue Nile.”