Egypt, Sudan Reject Ethiopian Offer to Share Data on Blue Nile Dam
Ethiopia’s offer to share data on the operation of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River has been rejected by Egypt and Sudan.
The offer turned down on Saturday comes after negotiations between the countries in Kinshasa last week ended with no resolution.
“Ethiopia invites Sudan and Egypt to nominate dam operators for data exchange before the filling of GERD in upcoming rainy seasons,” the Ethiopian foreign ministry tweeted Saturday.
Cairo and Khartoum have called for a legally binding pact regarding filling and operation procedures backed by the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, while Addis Ababa insists on general guidelines only.
Ethiopia announced a second filling of the dam is set to take place in July and will collect 13.5 billion cubic meters of water. This is three times more water than it collected last year in its first filling.
The Blue Nile is the main tributary of the Nile River, which provides Egypt with about 90 percent of its water needs. Sudan and Egypt fear unchecked filling of the massive dam will cause either severe droughts or flooding in in some of the areas of their countries. Ethiopia says the dam project is key to its economic development and to generating power for its citizens.
