Sudanese PM plans Nile dam talks with Egyptian and Ethiopian leaders
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said he wanted to hold talks with Egyptian and Ethiopian leaders within the next 10 days in an effort to help break the deadlock in the dispute over Ethiopia’s Nile dam project.
Mr Hamdok’s office said he proposed holding a closed meeting by video.
There was no immediate response from Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly or Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Representatives of the three nations held discussions this month in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but failed to agree to a formula for future negotiations over the dam.
Sudan and Egypt blamed “Ethiopian intransigence” for the stalemate.
“The negotiations have reached a deadlock at a time when the construction of the dam is at an advanced stage,” Mr Hamdok’s office said.
“That makes reaching an agreement a pressing and urgent need.”
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project is about 80 per cent complete.
Egypt is concerned the dam will reduce its vital share of the Nile’s waters, while Sudan said the project risked disrupting its power-generating dams on the Blue Nile.
Egypt and Sudan have for years called on Ethiopia to enter a legally binding deal on how to handle persistent drought and resolve future disputes.
Ethiopia, which says the dam is vital to its development, insists on guidelines rather than a legally binding agreement.
During the Kinshasa talks, Egypt and Sudan formally proposed that the UN, US, EU and African Union act as mediators in the dispute.
Ethiopia rejected the proposal and said it intended to carry out a second and much larger filling of the dam’s reservoir in July.
The dam will generate 6,000 megawatts when it is complete. Ethiopia said the electricity would lift millions of its people from poverty and that a surplus would be available for export to neighbouring countries.
The dam is being built less than 20 kilometres from the Sudanese border.