The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, whose country holds the presidency of the African Union, announced on Tuesday the resumption of negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in the near future, without specifying a date for that.
This came in a speech by the Congolese president before the United Nations General Assembly in New York, in the presence of more than 110 heads of state and world leaders.
Egypt and Sudan have exchanged 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, due to differences over its operation and filling.
On April 6, a round of negotiations ended in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, without progress, according to statements by Khartoum and Cairo.
Tshisekedi said in his speech that he had sought, since assuming the current presidency of the African Union, to facilitate the settlement of the dispute between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the Renaissance Dam, and added, "I took a number of initiatives, including organizing the Kinshasa negotiations last April and direct consultations with the heads of the three countries during my diplomatic tours in June." last June.
He added that this approach made it possible to identify a few points - which he did not disclose - that still require coordination between the parties, in order to conclude a fair and binding agreement, taking into account the interests of each of them.
The Congolese President stressed that enhancing the climate of mutual trust is necessary, and the three countries have been informed of these points, and discussions will resume in the near future without setting a date.
He stressed that the presence of observers and any country or institution accepted by the parties would be welcome, in reference to Sudan's adherence to Egyptian support to strengthen African mediation with a European, UN, American presence.
About a week ago, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a presidential statement calling on the three countries to resume negotiations led by the African Union, in order to reach a binding agreement.
Addis Ababa says that it does not aim to harm the interests of the downstream states of the Nile, Egypt and Sudan, but rather to generate electricity from the dam for development purposes, while Cairo and Khartoum call for the conclusion of a legally binding tripartite agreement to preserve their water facilities and the continued flow of their annual quotas of the Nile water.