Egyptian officials and media have reacted angrily after Ethiopia announced Sunday it will build next year more than 100 dams aside the current disputed Nile River hydro dam, Anadolu news agency reports.
Ethiopian Premier Abiy Ahmed Sunday indicated that his country will build during the next fiscal year at least 100 medium and small dams to spur development.
The U.S. envoy for the Horn of Africa on Wednesday met with the Egyptian president as part of Washington’s new push to find a resolution to a regional decade-long dispute over Ethiopia’s massive dam on the Nile River’s main tributary.
Jeffrey Feltman arrived in Cairo on Tuesday on the first leg of a tour that includes stops in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan amid growing concerns the dispute could escalate into a military conflict, threatening the entire region.
With the absence of a political solution for the crisis that erupted from Addis Ababa’s intransigence, and Egypt’s impatience regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a military option is now on the table, according to Cairo.
In the case of that happening, Sudan is set to pay the biggest price. The two combating nations do not share borders, and if the dam is destroyed fully or partially by Egypt, the direction of the flood will move towards Sudanese territories.
Sudan’s Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas said that Khartoum will bear great losses if Ethiopia insists on conducting the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam [GERD] without reaching an agreement.
Abbas said in a press conference that his country will store a billion cubic meters of water behind Roseires Dam as a precautionary measure against the second filling of GERD, planned in the next rain season in June.
Fighting continues in Ethiopia, despite Ethiopia’s premier Abiy Ahmed declaring victory over Tigrayan rebels in November 2020. With elections on the horizon, has the war in Tigray done more damage to Ethiopia’s unity?
“There is a full-scale war going on in Tigray. Sudan also invaded some 40 to 50 km (25 – 31 miles) of our border. There is also the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) crisis with Egypt.”
The meetings – creating awareness on the repercussions of Ethiopia’s unilateral measures pertinent to the filling and operation of the dam without a legal binding agreement – also included members of the Egyptian-Canadian Parliamentary Friendship Committee. The ambassador reiterated that Egypt is eager on resuming negotiations as long as Ethiopia has a political willpower to attain a solution.
“The fighting must come to an end. There must be humanitarian access, which has been a problem,” the State Department’s acting Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Robert Godec, told VOA on Monday during a briefing by phone.
“We need the human rights abuses and atrocities to stop. We need the Eritreans and the Amhara [militia] to leave. And we need, really, an end to this conflict,”
Ambassador Feltman’s work will build on our ongoing efforts to address the urgent crises in Ethiopia, where we continue to urge the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean forces, the cessation of hostilities by all parties, and unimpeded humanitarian access. We also urge leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan to come together and resolve their disputes around the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam and their shared water resources. The United States is ready to work with our allies and partners to promote shared peace and prosperity across the Horn of Africa.
Sudanese Irrigation Minister Yasser Abbas says Ethiopia rejected invitation to three-way summit to discuss stalled negotiations over GERD.
““Given that the environmental and social impacts and accompanying risks of the GERD have not been studied, various options are being considered, including The International Court of Justice, The Human Rights Commissions and the COMESA Court.”
CAIRO- 19 April 2021: A day after Addis Ababa announced that two bottom outlets of Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have gone operational in preparation for implementing the second dam filling, Egypt revealed technical errors in the Ethiopian plan.
The Ethiopian claim that the two GERD bottom outlets are capable of enabling average flow of Blue Nile is incorrect, the Egyptian ministry said.
