Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to agree Nile dam deal in weeks

Addis Ababa

After a decade-long dispute over water supplies, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan will agree to a deal for the Blue Nile dam in two to three weeks, following the African Union’s move to mediate and broker the deal. For years, the three countries had reached a deadlock on an agreement to regulate how Ethiopia will operate the dam and fill its reservoir.

Considering Egypt’s limited water supplies, this decision weighed heavily on protecting Egypt’s scarce water supplies from the Nile river. Ethiopia’s water minister, Seleshi Bekele, said that the decision was reached, a day after leaders from the three countries and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chairs the African Union, held an online summit.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is being built about 15 km from the border with Sudan on the Blue Nile, which is the predominant source of the Nile’s waters. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister’s Office stated that the African Union, and not the U.N. Security Council, will assist the countries in the negotiations and provide technical support.