(3 minutes read)
- The United Nations recently urged Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to return to AU-led talks for resolving the impasse over the hydro power project, which Addis Ababa is building on the River Nile
- The Security Council called on the countries to reach a binding agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam ( GERD), particularly relating to the filling and operation of the dam
- The GERD when completed will generate close to 6,000 MW of power
The United Nations recently urged Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to return to AU-led talks for resolving the impasse over the hydro power project, which Addis Ababa is building on the River Nile. The Security Council called on the countries to reach a binding agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam ( GERD), particularly relating to the filling and operation of the dam.
So far, the negotiations held eluded a solution; the last round of negotiations being held in Kinshasa in April. The GERD when completed will generate close to 6,000 MW of power. But the filling and operation of the dam has led to discontent among downstream countries Egypt and Sudan. They are concerned that their water supplies will be affected.
In July, Ethiopia announced that it had successfully finished the second phase of filling the dam’s reservoir, further raising tensions with Khartoum and Cairo. However, Ethiopia maintains that the facility is almost complete and due to start generating an initial 750 megawatts of electricity, sometime later this year.
