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 by AFP Staff Writers Cairo (AFP) Sept 16, 2021
Egypt and Sudan have expressed readiness to resume talks with Ethiopia on its controversial Nile dam after the UN Security Council urged the three governments to swiftly reach a binding deal. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, set to be Africa's largest hydroelectric project when completed, has sparked an almost decade-long diplomatic stand-off between Ethiopia and downstream nations Egypt and Sudan. On Wednesday, the UN Security Council adopted a statement encouraging the three countries to resume negotiations under the auspices of the African Union to swiftly conclude a binding deal. The Egyptian foreign ministry welcomed the Security Council statement as an "important impetus" for success in renewed talks. Sudan backed the resumption of AU-led talks during a Wednesday visit by a delegation from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the current AU chair. The Sudanese foreign ministry said it wanted changes to the "ineffective method that has characterised previous rounds of negotiation." The DRC delegation, headed by Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula, is also visiting Egypt and Ethiopia on a tour dedicated to resolving the long-running dispute. It handed Sudan a document setting out the remaining points of contention between the three governments. Egypt and Sudan have been pressing Ethiopia to sign a binding agreement on the filling and operation of its dam on the Blue Nile ever since work first started on the project in 2011. The three governments have held multiple rounds of talks but so far there has been no sign of any breakthrough. Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, sees the dam as an existential threat. Sudan hopes the project will regulate annual flooding, but fears its own dams could be harmed without agreement on the GERD's operation. In July, Ethiopia announced it had reached its target for the second year of filling the vast reservoir behind the dam.
UN urges Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to resume mega-dam talks The pact should be a "mutually acceptable and binding agreement on the filling and operation" of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, or GERD, "within a reasonable time frame," the Security Council said in a declaration drafted by Tunisia. The members of the United Nations' top security body also invited all observers who would be acceptable to the three parties in the disputed project "to continue supporting the negotiations with a view to facilitating resolution of outstanding technical and legal issues." "The Security Council calls upon the three countries to take forward the AU-led negotiation process in a constructive and cooperative manner," the statement said. The dam was the subject of a Security Council meeting in early July, even though its members have differing opinions on the need for the body dedicated to world peace to take on a subject related to water supply. Ethiopia had criticized any involvement of the Security Council, contending that the African Union was better positioned to help resolve the conflict. The GERD, set to be Africa's largest hydroelectric project when completed, has sparked an almost decade-long diplomatic stand-off between Addis Ababa and downstream nations Egypt and Sudan. In July Ethiopia announced that the GERD was ready to produce electricity after completing the second phase of filling. Ethiopia says the project is essential to its development, but Cairo and Khartoum fear it could restrict their citizens' water access.
Drought squeezes Brazil's electricity supply Sao Paulo (AFP) Sept 3, 2021 Brazil's worst drought in almost a century is threatening electricity supply and critical crops, pushing up energy and food prices at a time the country was hoping to start recovering from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The country of 213 million people relies on hydropower for two-thirds of its electricity, but crucial dams are at near-record lows of less than a quarter full. Last week, President Jair Bolsonaro urged Brazilians to "turn off a light at home" to conserve power, ... read more
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