MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd July, 2020) The first year filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is complete up to limits as the construction goes on, the Office of Ethiopia's Prime Minister said in a press release on Tuesday, following an extraordinary African Union-led summit among the countries concerned.
The mini-summit was held virtually for Ethiopia to negotiate with Egypt and Sudan, which have long voiced concerns that the gigantic dam on Blue Nile might jeopardize their own water security.
"Current rainfall and runoff situation in the region have made it conducive to fill the dam," the press release read, adding "It has become evident over the past two weeks in the rainy season that the GERD first year filling is achieved and the dam under construction is already overtopping."
According to the press release, Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have reached "major common understanding which paves the way for a breakthrough agreement" and agreed to continue technical discussions under the African Union's auspices.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has conveyed, as quoted in the press release, his country's commitment to equitable and reasonable utilization of Blue Nile waters "without significant harm to Egypt and Sudan."
The dam has been under construction since 2011 and set to become Africa's largest.
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 has insisted on doing it in three years. Should the time frame be that short, downstream Egypt and Sudan fear they might fall short of 25 billion cubic meters of water annually with subsequent drought and crop failure.
