Ethiopia and Egypt have agreed to finalise an agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in the next four months, according to a joint statement by both countries.
The statement was issued on Thursday following a bilateral meeting between Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
“To initiate expedited negotiations to finalize the agreement between Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan on the filling of the GERD and the rules of its operations, stressing they will do all the necessary efforts to finalize it in 4 months,” the statement reads in part.
It adds, “During the period of these negotiations, Ethiopia has indicated its commitment, during the filling of the GERD within the hydrological year 2023-2024, not to cause significant harm to Egypt and Sudan, so that the water needs of both countries are well provided.”
Prime Minister Abiy tweeted after the meeting saying it was, “…marked by the spirit of cooperation on bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest.”
Ethiopia sees the dam as crucial for its development process and has reiterated before that the dam filling cause no harm the water share of Egypt and Sudan, two downstream countries.
Egypt and Sudan have previously asked Ethiopia to agree a legally-binding agreement to ensure the preservation of their water interests and people’s rights. Ethiopia maintains that filling the dam has not affected water share for downstream countries.
Thursday’s meeting came a couple of weeks after Ethiopia hosted the 2nd Africa-Run High-Level Forum on Equitable and Reasonable Utilisation of Transboundary Watercourses in Africa.
The primary goal of the meeting was to ensure equitable and reasonable use of Nile River by using a platform that promotes the exchange of experiences and scientific research while upholding the significance of the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization of trans-boundary water as the guiding principle in the development of trans-boundary watercourses.
