Is Sudan shifting positions in Nile River negotiations?
Sudan and Ethiopia have recently agreed to resume the negotiations on the Nile dam that Addis Ababa is building, amid Egyptian silence.
Sudan recently backtracked on its position regarding the resumption of its participation in negotiations over the controversial giant hydroelectric dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, as Khartoum and Egypt continue to voice concerns over its effects on the Nile water flow.
Sudan announced Dec. 13 that it had reached agreement with Ethiopia for negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam to resume within a week. The announcement came during Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s visit to Addis Ababa, where he met with his Ethiopian counterpart, Abiy Ahmed.
On Dec. 14, Celchi Bekele, the Ethiopian minister of water, irrigation and energy, visited Sudan, where he met with Sudanese Water and Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas to discuss the resumption of the tripartite negotiations over the dam.
The two ministers agreed to resume negotiations and grant a greater role to African Union experts to allow them to converge the views of the three countries under the African Union umbrella.
