The Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation said today, Monday, that it is not too late to reach a legal and binding agreement on filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, after the Ethiopian government announced earlier today the completion of the second filling phase of the huge dam, a move that angered and rejected its neighbors Egypt and Sudan.

The Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation stated that it was not too late to reach a necessary agreement on the dam, if the political will was available, stressing that it would be "a binding and comprehensive legal agreement that preserves the interests of all parties and takes into account their concerns."

The ministry said, "Negotiation is the best way to preserve the historical relations between Ethiopia and Sudan," declaring its rejection of Ethiopia's unilateral measures regarding the Renaissance Dam, which "impose a fait accompli and ignore the concerns of its partners in the Nile River."

The Sudanese ministry’s statements came, after the Ethiopian Minister of Irrigation, Seleshi Bakli, said on Twitter that the second filling of the Renaissance Dam had been completed, and the water had exceeded the top of the dam, he said.

"The amount of rain that falls this year is enormous, we can understand how great the Creator's grace is and how he helps us," Bakli added.

The Ethiopian authorities announced that the volume of the second filling of the Renaissance Dam - the largest in Africa - amounted to 13 billion cubic meters.

Bakli said that the second filling means obtaining the amount of water needed to operate two turbines to generate electricity. He also published pictures of the process of completing the second filling of the dam, commenting, "Congratulations to the Ethiopians and the friends of Ethiopia."

reassure the neighbors

Bakli assured Egypt and Sudan that no harm would befall them as a result of the second mobilization of the Renaissance Dam, noting that the Renaissance Dam is the guard for the two downstream countries against climate changes, as it is a means of development and prosperity together, as he described.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ethiopia, Hassan Razzaq, said that the next step is for the authorities to complete the construction of the dam, which was conditional on the completion of the first and second fillings and the start of the operation of some power generation turbines.

On the other hand, the Roseires Dam administration, southeast of Sudan, told Al Jazeera that it did not have enough information about the operation of the Renaissance Dam filling process.

The administration stressed that there is a great need to exchange information regarding the process of filling and operating the Renaissance Dam for the safe operation of the Roseires Dam "to avoid catastrophic results as a result of the unilateral Ethiopian measures."

She pointed out that the absence of information regarding the second filling process of the dam prompted it to take precautionary measures.

She indicated that she had begun the process of gradual emptying of the dam's lake to receive the incoming water from Ethiopia.

Al-Jazeera correspondent Ahmed Al-Raheed quoted the residents as confirming that the measures taken at the level of the Roseires Dam due to the absence of information from the Ethiopian side affected a number of farmers, numbering more than a thousand, according to them.


Yesterday, Sunday, the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation called on residents on both sides of the Blue Nile to take precautions due to an expected rise in the river's water as a result of heavy rains on the Ethiopian plateau.

A source in the ministry suggested that the reason for the increase in the water level of the Blue Nile is Ethiopia's inability to store water in the Ethiopian dam as a result of technical problems.

The ministry had said in a statement that this increase in the levels of the Blue Nile would be from the south and north of the Roseires reservoir to the city of Khartoum.

And on Saturday, Sudan announced the storage of 1.6 billion cubic meters of water, to secure the levels in the Nile and the White Nile, in anticipation of the second filling of the Renaissance Dam.

songs and rhymes

Earlier, the Ethiopian TV announced the completion of the second filling of the Renaissance Dam and broadcast pictures of it, and the Ethiopian News Agency published a new video showing the completion of the second phase of the initial filling, and the images show the water level approaching the middle corridor, which means that the overtaking stage is the call to prayer. By completing the filling, the pictures show the continued flow of water from the two lower passages.

Al-Jazeera correspondent in Ethiopia said that there were omens last night, as the television continued to broadcast national songs and chants, and the pioneers of social networking sites were active in broadcasting clips and pictures indicating the completion of the mobilization.

He stated that Ethiopia expects floods in September, and says it is anticipating and taking the necessary measures in this regard.

Blessed people of Ethiopia on the completion of the second filling of the lake of the Renaissance Dam. They do not know that the dam is dangerous for Sudan without a binding legal agreement or what,# Renaissance Dam

— YASIN AHMED (@yasin123ah) July 19, 2021

The positions of the parties

Addis Ababa insisted on implementing a second filling of the Renaissance Dam with water in July and next August, even if it did not reach an agreement on filling and operating the dam it is building on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile, while Egypt and Sudan adhere to reaching a tripartite agreement first. It is obligatory, to maintain the safety of their water facilities and to ensure the continued flow of their annual share of Nile water, which is 55.5 billion cubic meters and 18.5 billion, respectively.

On July 8, the UN Security Council concluded that the Renaissance Dam negotiations should be revived intensively under the auspices of the African Union, to sign a binding legal agreement that meets the needs of the three countries.

Egypt and Sudan exchange accusations with Ethiopia of being responsible for the failure of negotiations on the dam sponsored by the African Union for months, within a negotiating process that began about 10 years ago.