Dam on the Nile: the announcement of an upcoming filling by Ethiopia stirs up tensions

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Relations are not subsiding around the mega-dam that Ethiopia is building on the Nile, while negotiations with Sudan and Egypt, countries which are located downstream from the river, are suspended. 

Publicity

It was the report by the public media of a meeting of the Ethiopian government on Monday that rekindled the tension . During this meeting, the Head of Government Abiy Ahmed and several ministers, as well as the Chief of the Defense Staff, studied a progress report on the Renaissance dam presented by the Minister of Water, irrigation and energy, Seleshi Bekele.

In his report, the minister said that Ethiopia was ready to start the first phase of filling the dam next July, despite the lack of agreement with the two neighboring countries.

The following day, the Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok informed Abiy Ahmed by letter of his opposition to this unilateral decision. And to invite his counterpart to resume talks in Washington, which Ethiopia left last February. Egypt, for its part, has already made known its refusal by letter in early May to the UN Security Council.

For the two countries downstream of the Nile, it is inconceivable to start filling the reservoir without having previously signed a global agreement with Ethiopia. Sudan and Egypt want a long-term agreement on the sharing of data from the dam, the safety of the dam, and its social and environmental impacts in their respective countries.

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• Ethiopia
• Egypt
• Sudan

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