Egypt, Sudan FMs coordinate action prior to Security Council session on Renaissance Dam

CAIRO – 7 July 2021: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Sudanese counterpart Mariam Sadig al-Mahdy on Wednesday for further coordination ahead of the Security Council session on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Tunisia requested the session on behalf of the Arab League in demand of a resolution on the controversial dam, where Egypt and Sudan, both are members of the African Union and the Arab League, accuse Ethiopia of intransigence and evading an agreement on filling and operating the dam for 10 years.

The three countries have engaged in negotiations under the auspices of the African Union for years, always reaching a deadlock as Ethiopia prolongs negotiations until it imposes a fait accompli in the rain season. It has unilaterally begun the second round of filling, which the proposal demands it stop.

Other rounds of negotiations under the auspices of the U.S. saw Ethiopia withdraw in the last minute before signing an agreement.

In a Wednesday phone call, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi that Cairo only resorted to the Security Council as a result of the Ethiopian “intransigence,” and that the move is meant to enhance the African Union’s leadership of negotiations in cooperation with the participating countries and entities to ultimately have an effective role in directing the discussion and help the three countries reach a binding agreement in a specific timeframe on the filling and operation of the dam.

The Congolese president, the current chairperson of the African Union, said the Egyptian and Sudanese moves at the Security Council will support African solutions to Africa problems, emphasizing the need for concerted efforts to empower the African Union’s path towards an agreement for the three nations and avoiding the destabilization of the region.

Tshisekedi expressed his appreciation for Egypt’s efforts within the framework of the negotiation process to ensure its success to ultimately reach a solution to the GERD crisis.

They both agreed on continuous coordination between Egypt and Congo to find a balance and fair agreement.

In earlier statements, Sisi said the GERD negotiations could not go on forever.

The resolution proposed by Tunisia demands that the agreement must ensure that Ethiopia has the capacity to produce hydroelectric power from the dam without inflicting significant harm on the water security of downstream nations. The terms also include:

1 – Demand that Ethiopia cease the second filling of the GERD

2 – Demand that Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia resume negotiations.

3 – Reach a binding agreement on GERD in six months.

4 – Demand that the three countries stop any measure that delays negotiations.

5 – Demand that Ethiopia stop unilateral decisions.