CAIRO, Sept 16 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt is always willing to reach consensus and it rejects any unilateral visions, regarding Ethiopia’s dam, being built on the Nile River, Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, said.
Shoukry’s remarks came, during a joint press conference with Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Monica Juma, following their meeting in Cairo, where another meeting of the irrigation ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan was held earlier, after more than 15 months of suspension.
“It is necessary to reach an agreement as soon as possible, because there’s no room for any party to attempt imposing its will on another and creating a tangible reality that is not dealt within a framework of understanding, consultation and prior agreement,” Shoukry said.
Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country, is concerned that the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-metre annual share of the river water. Meanwhile, upstream Ethiopia and downstream Sudan eye massive future benefits through the dam.
Shoukry showed understanding of Ethiopia’s aspiration for development through the dam, noting that, Egypt will have to endure damage of water shortage anyway, during filling and operating the reservoir.
But he stressed that Egypt can endure “the damage that can be contained and dealt with economically, while maintaining the interests of the Egyptian people.”
He noted that the past four years didn’t see real progress in reaching an agreement, regarding the rules of filling and operating the dam, as stated in the “declaration of principles” signed in 2015, by leaders of the three countries.
The Egyptian foreign minister added that his country offered Ethiopia and Sudan an integrated plan, based on their former discussions in this regard.
“The plan considers the interests of the three states equally, and we accept any notes or deep discussions regarding it,” he pointed out.
On Thursday, Egypt’s Deputy Foreign Minister for African Affairs, Hamdi Sanad Loza, expressed Egypt’s dissatisfaction with the prolonged period of negotiations over the dam, without progress.
On the other hand, Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, repeatedly vowed that his country will not harm Egypt’s share of the Nile River water through the GERD construction.
Ethiopia started building the dam in 2011, and it is expected to produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity and to be Africa’s largest hydro-power dam.
Filling the reservoir, whose total capacity is 74 billion cubic metres, may take several years. While Ethiopia asked to fill it in five-six years, Egypt seeks to prolong the period, to avoid the negative effects of water shortage, which is a main point of their talks.– NNN-MENA