Ethiopia Hopes African Union Mediation To Help Resolve GERD Dispute - Diplomat

Ethiopia hopes that the African Union (AU) mediation would help it reach an agreement on the long-lasting Renaissance dam dispute with Egypt and Sudan, the Ethiopian ambassador to Russia told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News - 12th October, 2020) Ethiopia hopes that the African Union (AU) mediation would help it reach an agreement on the long-lasting Renaissance dam dispute with Egypt and Sudan, the Ethiopian ambassador to Russia told Sputnik.

"It is the only way to come to solution - through discussion with mediation by the AU ... Ethiopia has no plan to harm downstream countries, Sudan and Egypt. Ethiopia believes in negotiations. Through these negotiations we hope we will reach an agreement with the two countries," Alemayehu Tegenu said.

According to the ambassador, the sides are yet to reach a consensus on filling rules, drought management and data exchange.

"We expect the negotiations to continue, we are ready to continue the negotiations. And we hope all differences will be resolved," he maintained.

Tegenu argued that responsibility for drought management cannot rest exclusively with Ethiopia, as all the three countries have to agree on water release.

"We all have dams on our land. Egypt and Sudan also they have dams. When there is a drought, all are responsible to discharge their water for the mitigation of the drought, not only Ethiopia ... To solve it every country has to agree on its obligations. The drought is common for all the three countries and it has to be solved by three countries negotiations," he said.

The diplomat added that the dam, which is set to become the largest hydroelectric project in Africa, would be beneficial for all the neighboring countries, as they all face energy shortages.

"Ethiopia believes in pan-Africanism, Ethiopia believes in regional economic integration. We have already started to connect our national grid to neighboring countries. This time we export some megawatts to Sudan, some to Djibouti, we constructed 2,000-megawatt capacity to Kenya. I think this transmission line will reach Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda ... They have the problem of electricity shortages; we have to share what we have with these countries ... We will study and make connection with South Sudan. These all are very important neighbors to be connected to our national grid," Tegenu explained.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been under construction since 2011. While Ethiopia deems the hydroelectric project vital to its economic growth, Egypt and Sudan fear that the large dam would slash their access to water.

The talks between the three countries are being mediated by South Africa, the current holder of the AU chairmanship.