Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan will agree a deal to fill the giant Nile dam in two to three weeks, Ethiopia’s water minister said on Saturday, a day after leaders from the three countries and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chairs the African Union held an online summit.
“Consensus reached to finalize the #GERD agreement within 2 to 3 weeks,” Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy said in a tweet.
Earlier leaders of Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt agreed that Ethiopia will not start filling its Nile dam without reaching an agreement within two weeks, Sudan and Egypt said on Friday.
Ethiopia, which is building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) which worries its downstream neighbours Egypt and Sudan, only confirmed “fruitful discussions” with the help of the African Union, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The dam on the Blue Nile, the source for most Nile water, offered for “all stakeholders the opportunity for unprecedented economic growth and mutual development,” the statement said.
