CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th July, 2020) Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have resumed negotiations to reach an agreement on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, media reported Friday.
According to Sudanese news agency SUNA, the three sides resumed talks with the mediation of South Africa as the current holder of the African Union chairmanship.
Late in June, Ethiopia agreed to avoid filling the dam until a final agreement between the three countries is penned.
The dam, officially known as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, is under construction by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile and set to become Africa's largest, but Egypt and Sudan 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.
Cairo has proposed to extend the filling for 10 years, while Ethiopia is determined to do it in three years. In this case, Egypt and Sudan say they will fall short of 25 billion cubic meters of water annually with subsequent drought and crop failure.
Last week, Egypt officially asked the UN Security Council to intervene in talks and prevent Addis Ababa from acting unilaterally amid stalled progress in the trilateral dialogue.
