JOHANNESBURG, Oct 29 (NNN-BUANEWS) – South African International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Naledi Pandor, said, her counterparts from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan, are scheduled to meet again in seven days, over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) issue.
This comes after Tuesday’s video conference discussion Pandor had with Foreign Affairs and Water and Irrigation ministers of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.
“The GERD negotiating parties reaffirmed their sincere commitment to the AU-led process and agreed to immediately, and unconditionally resume negotiations,” said Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson, Clayson Monyela, yesterday.
He said parties undertook to come up with a clear work plan time frames and deliverables. “The Parties also agreed to continue negotiations on the remaining technical and legal issues.”
Minister Pandor said, all parties had shown commitments to the talks, which resumed this week after collapsing about two months ago.
Observers, including Chairperson of African Union Commission, Moussa Mahamat Faki and experts on the GERD, joined the talks.
The 6,500-MW hydroelectric dam is under construction on the Blue Nile River, a major tributary to the world’s longest Nile River, that flows all the way to the two lower riparian countries, Sudan and Egypt.
Diplomatic relations among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have been, over the years, largely intertwined with the Blue Nile River that originates from Ethiopia and shared among the three countries.– NNN-BUANEWS
