Ethiopia’s announcement that the giant new hydropower dam on the Blue Nile will begin generating power in the next 12 months has sparked uproar in Egypt amid stumbling efforts to resolve the dispute over the issue.
According to Egyptian observers, Cairo has to determine the fate of the African Union (AU)-sponsored talks, which have yet to make any progress, and urge the organization to take a clear stance on Addis Ababa’s “unilateral measures”.
For nearly a decade, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have been in negotiations hoping to reach an agreement on the rules for filling and operating the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that Addis Ababa is building on the main tributary of the Nile.
Negotiations were suspended at the end of August, after technical and legal disputes.
Cairo and Khartoum fear that this will affect their shares in the Nile waters, and stress the need to reach a binding agreement that guarantees the rights and interests of the three countries, and includes a mechanism for settling disputes.
Ethiopia has completed about 75 percent of the construction of the dam. In July, it finished the first phase of filling the reservoir, in preparation for its operation.
Professor of Geology and Water Resources at Cairo University Dr. Abbas Sharaki has called on the AU to act fast and continue the negotiations or declare their failure to allow parties to again resort to the UN Security Council.
Egypt had previously earlier urged the Security Council to intervene, emphasizing the importance of holding negotiations in “good faith” among the three countries to reach a just and balanced solution to the dispute.
Sharaki also deemed as “provocative” Ethiopia’s announcement that it was operating the dam before an agreement has been reached.
“This year will be a year where the GERD will start generating power with the two turbines,” Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde said in a speech to parliament on Monday.
Sharaki said Addis Ababa will start completing the central passage in November, meaning it will hold 13 billion cubic meters in summer, raising the filling to 18 billion cubic meters.
Ethiopia says the $4 billion hydropower project, which will have a capacity of 6,450 megawatts, is essential to its economic development.
Former Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Nasr Eldin Allam suggested that Cairo submit an official notice to the AU demanding an official reprimand to Ethiopia on its recent statement and urging it to adhere to the announced negotiation schedule to conclude a binding agreement on the rules for filling and operating the dam.
