Ethiopia and Egypt calm troubled waters after resuming dam talks
Egypt and Ethiopia on Thursday agreed to immediately resurrect an independent technical committee responsible for coming up with a plan to operate an upstream dam on the Nile.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed discussed the dam in a meeting on the sidelines of a Russia-Africa summit in the Black Sea city of Sochi.
The partial breakthrough could defuse growing tension between the two nations.
The dispute over the effect of Ethiopia’s dam on Egypt’s share of the Nile’s water this week erupted into a war of words after Mr Abiy, this year’s winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, said he could muster millions of people if conflict broke out with Egypt.
Addis Ababa’s sabre-rattling and Cairo’s measured response came as the United States invited the foreign ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to Washington for talks on the dispute.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday also offered to mediate but it was not immediately clear if Egypt and Ethiopia accepted the offer.
Egypt’s presidential spokesman Bassam Radi said the leaders wanted the committee to work “more openly and positively” towards a “final and comprehensive” scenario for operating the almost completed dam on the Blue Nile and filling its reservoir.
He said the two leaders also agreed to move past the “negative fallout” from comments made by Mr Abiy.
On Tuesday, Mr Abiy said “some say things about use of force [by Egypt]. It should be underlined that no force could stop Ethiopia from building a dam.
“If there is a need to go to war, we could get millions readied. If some could fire a missile, others could use bombs. But that’s not in the best interest of all of us.”
His remarks drew a sharp but measured response from Egypt, whose leader currently holds the rotating presidency of the African Union.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said it was “shocked” by the “negative references” and “unacceptable suggestions”, saying it was “inappropriate to get into scenarios that include military options”.
Egypt has refrained from any mention of military action to resolve the dispute, but some pro-government
commentators floated the notion that if it does go to war, it would be in self defence.
The closest Egypt came to making a threat was when Mr El Sisi said in New York last month that his country would not accept the imposition of a de facto situation regarding the operation of the dam.
Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have been involved in years of fruitless negotiations over how to operate the dam.
The Blue Nile, which originates in the Ethiopian highlands, accounts for about 85 per cent of the Nile waters, but only about 65 per cent of the water reaching Egypt.
It meets the White Nile, another tributary which starts in central Africa, near Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, to form the Nile river, which then flows on to Egypt and drains into the Mediterranean.
Egypt depends on the Nile for more than 90 per cent of its water needs. It wants the lake behind the hydroelectric dam filled over seven years to minimise the impact on its share of the river’s water.
It also wants Ethiopia to release 40 billion cubic metres of water every year and show flexibility during dry spells.
With a population matching Egypt’s 100 million, Ethiopia views the dam as essential to its development.
The structure has also become a symbol of national pride at a time when many Nile Basin nations feel Egypt has unjustifiably enjoyed the lion’s share of the river’s water – an annual 55 billion cubic metres – for far too long.