MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2020) Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia are scheduled to hold another round of trilateral negotiations over the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Monday.
In early July, the three countries resumed talks with the mediation of South Africa as the current holder of the African Union (AU) chairmanship. Shortly after, the negotiations however stalled again. The parties have decided that each country would separately send letters to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, the current AU chairman, to outline their visions on how to settle the issue on the upcoming meeting.
The dam has been under construction by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile since 2011 and is set to become Africa's largest hydroelectric power plant. The project is objected by Egypt and Sudan, who fear its effects on their own water security. The three countries have held dozens of rounds of talks but have failed to agree on how soon the dam should be filled. Within this context, Cairo asked the UN Security Council to intervene in the talks to prevent any unilateral steps by Ethiopia.
