Egypt willing to resume Nile dam talks if Ethiopia has ‘political will’ for deal

Egypt’s foreign minister said yesterday that his country is always ready to resume negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, if the government in Addis Ababa has the political will to reach an agreement.

“Egypt was not the reason for interrupting the Renaissance Dam negotiations,” Sameh Shoukry told a joint press conference with his Omani counterpart, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi, in Muscat. “We are keen to reach a binding legal agreement that meets the needs of all parties, which includes Ethiopia’s right to development, and Egypt and Sudan’s right to their share of the Nile water.”

According to Albusaidi, the Sultanate hopes such an agreement can be reached. He described the Egyptian position as “right and logical.”

The Ethiopians say that the dam aims to support development efforts in their country. The governments in Cairo and Khartoum, meanwhile, fear that the dam will reduce their access to water from the River Nile.

The talks about the issue have been stalled since April last year. This has been due to “Ethiopia’s intransigence,” allege the two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan.

READ: Egypt predicts disaster due to Ethiopia dam