- Sovereign Council of Ethiopia notifies that it would not send a delegation to the meeting on the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Washington this week
- Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wants to sign the agreement after the Ethiopian General Election on August 29
Sovereign Council of Ethiopia has sent a written notification that it would not send a delegation to the meeting on the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) which is scheduled later this week in Washington. The decision is likely to delay the deal to be signed between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.
After meeting with the leader of the Sudanese Transitional Sovereign Council, Gen Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan, in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum Hailemariam Desalegn, the former Ethiopian Prime Minister and now Special Envoy for Ethiopia on the Nile talks, informed that the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wants to sign the agreement after the Ethiopian General Election on August 29. The Sudanese Minister of Irrigation, Yassir Abbas, had reported that Washington had submitted to Khartoum, Cairo and Addis Ababa a draft agreement on the mechanism for filling and operating the dam, which is being negotiated. The United States and the World Bank have been mediating between the three countries over the issue of Ethiopian dam from November last year. The major grievance came from Egypt which complained that the proposed dam would reduce its share of Nile water affecting its lifeline.
 The Sudanese Minister, Abbas indicated that 90 percent of the issues were agreed upon, particularly relating to filling and operating of the dam. The officials from Sudan and Egypt are expected to participate in the meeting scheduled for February 27 and 28 in Washington.
