Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan anticipated returning to the negotiating table regarding the Renaissance Dam, which will be resumed under the auspices of the African Union, with inconsistencies and statements about the results of the Summit of the "African Union Association Office", which was held to solve the Renaissance Dam crisis, while Egypt announced that Ethiopia agreed to Postponement of the filling of the dam pending the conclusion of an agreement, Ethiopia said, it gave the negotiations a two-week deadline, and that the process of filling the dam will stop during this period.

The Summit of the "Assembly of the African Union" was held on Friday, at the invitation of the President of the African Union for the current session, President of South Africa, "Cyril Ramavoza" in an attempt to solve the African Renaissance Dam crisis, before discussing it in the UN Security Council session scheduled on Monday, where it is considered "Office The African Union Association ", which consists of five countries, namely South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Congo and Mali, representing the African continent from its five sides. The meeting of this office is considered as an African mini-summit.

The summit approved the participation of observers from South Africa, members of the African Union Assembly office, and experts from the African Commission, with a view to addressing outstanding technical and legal issues. The summit also indicated that the African Union will inform the Security Council of taking over the case file, and that it will hold another summit at the level of the "Assembly of the African Union African "within two weeks, to consider the results of negotiations on outstanding issues.

Ethiopia believes that its steps to bridge the Renaissance are based on agreements with the parties involved in the issue (Al-Jazeera)

The African Union is the reference
to this discrepancy, says Ethiopian political analyst Nour Taher, The statement issued by the African Union is the ultimate reference for the outcomes of the summit. Noting in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that the statement did not refer to Ethiopia's agreement to postpone the filling of the dam, but rather clarified a text that the three countries pledged to refrain from making any statements or take any measures that complicate the negotiations, and thus Egypt's interpretation of this text to achieve media gains, is Something that Ethiopia, which will continue to fill the dam, cannot afford, according to Ethiopian officials.

Taher explains that "giving Ethiopia negotiations another two weeks, reflects its goodwill and desire to reach consensus on the sticking points, as well as Addis Ababa's keenness on the success of the African role, to achieve the principle of African solutions to African problems, after Egypt was trying to keep the file away from Africa." He added that "by this action, Ethiopia has demonstrated its flexibility in the talks in order to achieve the common interest, contrary to what was promoted that Ethiopia stubbornly.

Egypt sees the Renaissance Dam as a threat to its stake in the waters of the Nile (Al Jazeera)

Is a two-week period sufficient?
With regard to the adequacy of the two-week deadline, Ethiopian researcher Keram Tadse says that previous negotiations were faltering due to Egypt's insistence on introducing the concept of historical rights and current use, depending on the 1959 agreement to share the waters of the Nile, which was a knot in the saw.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Tadesse notes that "the African Union often does not recognize any charters and decisions dating back to the colonial legacy of Africa, and therefore negotiations will be purely technical and legal, and far from the issues of water quotas, so it is expected to reach an agreement as more than 90% of the issues have been resolved. Indeed".

Tadesse explains that the initial filling scheduled for mid-July will proceed according to the established plan, because it legally depends on the non-contentious parts of the "principles and guidelines" related to filling and operating, which emanate from the fifth principle of the Declaration of Principles signed between the three countries 2015, where these principles ruled that (Initial filling) is part of the dam construction process, with the aim of testing the power plant.

Tadesse believes that "Egypt has signed the Declaration of Principles, and is fully aware of this circumstance, especially that the retained amount of water will be only 4.9 billion, which is very little, compared to the average annual flow of the Nile 49 billion cubic meters, and therefore will not cause any significant damage, This means full commitment by Ethiopia to the Declaration of Principles agreement. "