Ethiopia accuses Egypt, Sudan of obstructing Kinshasa talks 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared on Wednesday, regarding the issue of the Renaissance Dam, that: “All options are possible if a drop of Egypt’s share of Nile water is compromised.”

In a statement that El-Sisi delivered during the inauguration of the integrated complex for secured and smart documents, the New Administrative Capital, El-Sisi stated that negotiations with Sudan over the dam are ongoing, adding: “We respect the development plans in Ethiopia, but without causing harm to Egypt.”

He stressed that Egypt’s position on the Renaissance Dam project was honourable and respected the Ethiopian people’s desire to achieve development.

The Egyptian president asserted: “I said in Egypt that we value development, provided that it does not affect the interests of Egypt. I did not change my position. I did not withdraw what I said before. My position is still the same, and I said this before parliament in Ethiopia. I did not change my stance about respecting development plans in Ethiopia to improve the conditions of the people, but it should not harm the interests of Egypt. I think my words are clear.”

READ: Ethiopia must take account of the rights to Nile water of countries downstream 

El-Sisi pointed out that the Egyptian concern over the Renaissance Dam is justified, expressing: “Your concerns are reasonable and legitimate, but is everyone worried about water making steps to solve the problem? I started to worry about the water file in 2011, and I felt troubled by the issue since 2011, starting from 25 January specifically, I knew that we would have a major problem.”

This came after Ethiopia accused Egypt and Sudan of obstructing talks on the disputed Renaissance Dam, which ended with mutual accusations and little progress.

The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo and 2021 African Union Chair Felix Tshisekedi hosted the talks in the latest attempt to ease the ten-year-long tensions over the waters of the world’s longest river.

The two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, consider the Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia, the largest hydropower project in Africa, as a threat to their water shares.