Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan resumed Sunday April 4 in Kinshasa their negotiations around the Ethiopian mega-dam on the Blue Nile.

This hydroelectric power station project is presented as vital by Addis Ababa and perceived as a threat by Cairo and Khartoum.

"These negotiations represent the last chance that the three countries must seize to reach an agreement," Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said in remarks to Egyptian media.

This agreement should make it possible to "fill and operate the Renaissance dam in the coming months and before the next rainy season," he added.

"Seeking together African solutions to African problems"

"The Kinshasa meeting sets itself the goal of triggering a new dynamic," said the host of the meeting, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, who also holds the annual presidency of the African Union (AU ) since February.

"I invite you all to make a new start, to open one or more windows of hope, to seize all opportunities, to rekindle the fire of hope", he pleaded, welcoming the will of the participants to "to seek together African solutions to African problems".

United States Ambassador Mike Hammer was also present at the opening of the meeting, which is due to end on Monday.

Africa's largest hydroelectric dam

The Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been a source of tension between the three countries since the foundation stone was laid just ten years ago in April 2011.

The dam is built in northwest Ethiopia, near the border with Sudan, on the Blue Nile, an arm of the river that joins the White Nile, further north at Karthoum before continuing its course to Egypt. 

The GERD could become the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa with an announced capacity of nearly 6,500 megawatts.

The urgency of an agreement

Addis Ababa announced in October that the first phase of filling operations was concluded in August 2020.

Ethiopia says the hydroelectric power produced by the dam will be vital to meeting the energy needs of its 110 million people.

Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97% of its irrigation and drinking water, sees the Ethiopian dam as a threat to its water supply.

Sudan fears that its own dams could be damaged if Ethiopia fully replenishes the GERD before a deal is reached.

With AFP

The summary of the week

France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application

google-play-badge_FR