Days after going on an Arab and European tour to press Egypt's case in the dispute with Ethiopia over the Nile dam, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry turned on Tuesday to the support of “friends” in Africa.
Shoukry went to Burundi where he met with President Pierre Nkurunziza to deliver a message from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Cairo and Addis Ababa have sent diplomatic envoys to several countries after negotiations that took place under the auspices of the United States and the World Bank stalled.
Shoukry’s tour will also take him to South Africa, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Niger, and Rwanda where the FM would explain Cairo’s position on the dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile.
“These countries enjoy privileged relations with Egypt,” former Egyptian Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Mohamed Nasr Eldin Allam told Asharq Al-Awsat in remarks published Wednesday.
“Cairo wants to win the support of its allies and to seek their help in any future step, which Egypt could take as part of its options to solve the conflict with Ethiopia,” Allam said.
Last week, the Egyptian FM visited France and Belgium after making stops in each of Jordan, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman.
Ambassador Salah Halima, the vice president of the Egyptian Council on African Affairs, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Egypt’s diplomatic moves are based on strong legal and technical grounds.
Halima said Egypt’s case is strong because it signed a balanced and fair agreement following talks with Ethiopia in Washington last month.
Ethiopia skipped the meeting and only Egypt has initialed the deal thus far.
Ethiopia seeks to fill the dam in seven years, but Egypt proposes it should be done more slowly, over a period of 12 to 21 years, to minimize the reduction of the flow of Nile waters. Egypt relies on the Nile River for agricultural irrigation and water for its population of about 100 million.
