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Egypt proposes World Bank join Renaissance Dam talks

December 27, 2017 at 12:04 pm

Egypt Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry proposed the World Bank be included as a neutral and decisive party in the tripartite technical committee’s talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

The Egyptian minister made the offer during a meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart, Workneh Gebeyehu, in Addis Ababa. The tripartite technical committee comprises Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.

Egypt announced on 13 November that the talks with Ethiopia and Sudan have come to a halt after Addis Ababa and Khartoum rejected a preliminary report prepared by a French consultancy firm on the dam.

According to the foreign ministry statement, the World Bank has the ability to use highly qualified technical experts.

Read more: Egypt creating African lobby group against Ethiopia dam

The statement cited an Egyptian minister as saying that Cairo has dealt flexibly with the preliminary report and accepted it without reservations because it is convinced that technical studies do not tolerate interpretation or politicisation.

For his part, the Ethiopian foreign minister affirmed his country’s commitment to the Framework Agreement on the Declaration of Principles adding that it is keen to ensure the success of the negotiations and cooperation with Egypt and Sudan, pointing out that Ethiopia does not seek to harm Egypt’s share in the Nile waters.

According to the statement, the Ethiopian minister pledged to study the Egyptian proposal and reply to it at the earliest opportunity.

The Egyptian minister has also said that he will offer the same proposal to Sudan in the coming days.

Cairo fears that the dam will harm its annual share of Nile water; the main water source in Egypt.