Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Dr. Sileshi Bekele on Saturday said his country, Egypt, and Sudan have made some positive progress on a controversial dam Ethiopia is building on Blue.
“Negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) made some progress, not yet completed to submit the expected draft agreement. We expect to convene on 14th September 2020,” Sileshi Tweeted.
The tripartite meeting held on Friday considered the report of the technical teams on the progress of the week-long negotiations on the guidelines and rules on the first filling and annual operation of the dam.
The Ministers of the countries agreed to send their respective update letter to the Chairperson of the AU Executive Council Dr. Naledi Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa.
“Subject to confirmation of the date by Sudan, the meeting is expected to reconvene on 14, September 2020,” said the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy of Ethiopia
The meeting was attended by observers from South Africa, the European Union, the United States and experts assigned by the African Union (AU) Bureau of the Assembly.
Last month Ethiopia accomplished the first phase water filling of the dam, holding 4.9 billion cubic meters of water and its officials said that was a “natural” part of the construction process.
MG/abj/APA