Ethiopia’s Water, Irrigation and Energy Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the country will not take part in the talks on its disputed Nile dam project being held in Washington this weekend, reported Reuters. The final round of negotiation talks was scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday in Washington.
The Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy announced on its Facebook page that the government will skip the talks in Washington “because the country’s delegation hasn’t concluded its consultation with relevant stakeholders.”
The ministry noted that its decision has been communicated with the US Treasury secretary.
“We have asked that we need more time for consultation,” Bizuneh Tolcha, spokesman for Ethiopia’s ministry of water, irrigation, and energy told Reuters.
The U.S.-sponsored trilateral talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan seek to resolve an ongoing dispute over the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) being constructed on the Blue Nile, which flows into the Nile River – the main water source for Egypt’s 100 million-strong population.
Egypt has already expressed its concern that the dam might restrict its water supply from the Nile. Ethiopia, on the other hand, says the dam is the centerpiece in its bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter.
During the previous meetings, the talks tackled the three countries’ mechanism to follow up on an agreement on operating the dam and filling its reservoir.
Last month, the representatives from the three countries had said they would sign an agreement by the end of this month. Following the last round of talks held earlier this month, the nations said they had agreed on a schedule for staged filling of the Nile dam and mitigation mechanisms to adjust the filling and operation of the dam during dry periods and drought.
But several aspects of the Nile dam, including its safety and provisions for the resolution of disputes, still remain unsorted.
