Ethiopia Insists Dam Will Benefit Region as Egypt Seeks Mediator
Egypt, Ethiopia Leaders to Meet in Coming Days Over GERD Dam
(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia insisted its showpiece Nile dam will benefit the region, as Egypt urges mediation to resolve what it says is a breakdown in talks and preserve a fair share of downstream water crucial to its people.
“No force is going to stop Ethiopia from building the dam, this should be underlined,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told lawmakers Tuesday in the capital, Addis Ababa. But the recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize also signaled his openness to dialogue, shortly before he’s due to meet Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for talks on the sidelines of a Russian summit.
Tensions over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam have flared in the past month, as Egypt has accused the Horn of Africa country of dismissing its concerns over the timescale for filling the project’s reservoir -- a key issue in sustaining a reliable Nile flow to Egypt. Sisi has previously said he wouldn’t let Ethiopia impose a “de facto situation.”
The North African country is now appealing for an external mediator with experience of water-sharing issues, prompting speculation the U.S. or Russia could take the role. Egyptian officials say their recent proposal of a flexible filling of the reservoir that would guarantee an annual flow of 40 billion cubic meters was rejected by Ethiopia’s government.
Officials at Ethiopia’s water and foreign ministries didn’t respond to requests for interviews.
Almost two-thirds of Egypt’s water originates in the Ethiopian Highlands along the Blue Nile, one of the Nile’s two main tributaries. The world’s longest river provides most of Egypt’s freshwater supply, 85% of which is used for agriculture. Under Ethiopia’s counter-proposal, Egypt says it would receive about 31 billion cubic meters, an annual share it describes as having potentially catastrophic effects on electricity production, farming and jobs.
Ethiopia, which began construction of the dam in 2011 when Egypt was roiled by political upheaval, says the project is essential to provide energy and develop an economy for its over 100 million people -- a population roughly the same as Egypt’s. Construction on the 5,150-megawatt-capacity dam is over its initial $3.8 billion budget and about five years behind schedule.
Sisi’s meeting with Abiy at a Russian-Africa summit in Sochi that runs from Wednesday to Thursday could result in an agreement to bring in a fourth party to the talks that already include mutual neighbor Sudan, Egyptian officials said this week.
Ethiopian Water Minister Sileshi Bekele was cited by the local Fana Broadcasting Corp. on Oct. 18 as saying his country won’t accept anything over than trilateral talks and that Egypt’s proposals for 40 billion cubic meters of water a year and a mediator violate Ethiopia’s sovereignty.
Both Egypt and Ethiopia have dismissed any prospect of military conflict. Abiy, speaking hours before traveling to Russia, said that while Ethiopia could “line up many millions of people” in the event of any confrontation, “war has no benefit -- it doesn’t benefit us, Egypt or Sudan.”
“The better ideas are to talk,” he said.
--With assistance from Michael Gunn and Nizar Manek.
To contact the reporter on this story: Samuel Gebre in Abidjan at sgebre@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, Hilton Shone
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.