The three days of negotiations, from 04 to 06 April, organized in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), presented by the Congolese President, Félix Tshisekedi, as a new dynamic to break the deadlock around the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD), did not give the expected results.
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have failed to find common ground. The conference ended without a roadmap for further talks and a closing ceremony.
Cairo and Khartoum accused Addis Ababa of rejecting all proposals likely to change the case. One of the suggestions, made by Sudan and approved by Egypt, is the creation of an international quadripartite committee led by the African Union in order to participate in the resolution of the conflict and to reach an agreement that takes into account the interests of each party. country concerned.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez said the Ethiopian delegation showed “lack of political will to resume negotiations in good faith.”
In his opening address to the meeting, Felix Tshisekedi, current president of the African Union, said that “the differences around the Ethiopian Renaissance Great Dam should not be seen as inevitable.”
At the end of the conference, a Congolese official considered, despite the differences that still exist, that the discussions nevertheless made it possible to take the “first steps” towards a consensus. “We have conducted discussions so that we can take the first steps, on which President Tshisekedi will build the alternatives and approaches to work,” he said, adding that “we hope that it is a good basis ”.
The GERD project on the Nile has provoked controversy since it was set up by Addis Ababa in 2011. Egypt and Sudan argue that it will have adverse effects on their water supply and require a preliminary agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.
By OMA Newsletter N ° 220 of 07/04/2021
OMA, an NGO with an Intercontinental vocation
For the development of cultural exchanges
The enhancement of human potential
The promotion and consolidation of inter-African integration
Keywords Great Dam of the Renaissance, Kinshasa, Félix Tshisekedi
Country: Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia
Geographic position: East Africa, North Africa
