CAIRO, Oct 29 (NNN-MENA) – Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry and U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, discussed the latest developments pertaining to the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
The GERD, which is built by Ethiopia on the Nile River, is causing spat between Cairo and Addis Ababa.
In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry said, the two top diplomats tackled the meeting, the U.S. administration has called for in Washington, where the foreign ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, the three countries affected by the dam, are supposed to discuss the resumption of technical negotiations on the filling and operation of the dam.
The last round of talks on the GERD, held by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum on Oct 5, failed to reach a solution, with Egypt blaming Ethiopia for “rejecting all proposals that would help Egypt avoid serious harms caused by the construction of the dam.”
Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country, that relies on the Nile for its fresh water, is concerned that the construction of the GERD might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-metre annual share of the river water.
Ethiopia started building the dam in 2011, which is expected to produce more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity and become the largest hydro-power dam in Africa upon completion.
On Thursday, the Egyptian presidency announced that, Egyptian President, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, and Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, agreed to immediately resume work of the technical committee of the GERD.– NNN-MENA
