CAIRO: Egypt presented a new proposal in the Renaissance Dam negotiations that it said did not oppose development projects in Ethiopia, one of the parties involved in the talks reported.
Egypt, which is almost entirely dependent on the River Nile for its fresh water, fears the dam will diminish its water supply, which is already below scarcity level.
Ethiopia hopes that the massive $4.8 billion megaproject on the Blue Nile, which would generate 6,000 megawatts when completed, will allow it to become Africa’s largest power exporter.
The latest round of talks over the years-long dispute, which also involves Sudan, stalled after Ethiopia refused to enter into a binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.
A statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation said that a delegation had reviewed the country’s water situation and people’s sensitivity over the Renaissance Dam issue which, the ministry added, was an existential one.
It also referred to Egyptian efforts to reach a fair and balanced agreement, taking into account the interests of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, enhancing regional cooperation by issuing proposals that were consistent with internationally accepted standards.
The ministry said that the Egyptian proposal achieved the Ethiopian goal of generating electricity and avoiding serious harm to Egyptian and Sudanese interests within the framework of implementing the Declaration of Principles, and the method of dealing with any future projects on the Blue Nile in a manner that ensured their consistency with principles of international law in relation to the use of shared rivers.
The statement said that the Egyptian team had tackled the technical and legal aspects of the dam with monitors and clarified the most important Egyptian concerns regarding the various aspects of the agreement to fill and operate the Renaissance Dam in an attempt to bring the three countries’ views closer.
Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Ati said that Ethiopia had several water resources, but suffered when it came to managing and employing them.
He said that Egypt had submitted a technical proposal to generate 85 percent of the electricity that is to be produced by the Renaissance Dam. He added that Egypt was willing to cooperate to support development in Africa and Ethiopia, pointing to the establishment of a fund to support infrastructure linking Egypt with the Nile Basin countries.
Mohamed Nasr Allam, Egypt’s former minister of irrigation and water resources, told Arab News that even with the proposal being presented, reaching an agreement during the current negotiations remained “a weak possibility” and it may be more important to focus on achieving several important goals for the next possible UN Security Council meeting.
He said that these goals included African and international support for Egypt’s attempts to help Ethiopia achieve a fair and equitable use of water that achieved development for its citizens without harming Egyptians, African and international support for the fairness of Egyptian-Sudanese demands, to carry out structural, environmental and social safety studies regarding the implications of the dam and testimony that the Ethiopian demands for a share of the Nile water (not supported by agreements) reduced the historical rights of Egypt and Sudan.
Allam asked whether Egypt’s demands and African attempts to reach a settlement would succeed and “end these urgent issues.”
Some 85 percent of the Nile water that reaches Egypt flows from Ethiopian highlands.
The current talks are being held under the auspices of the African Union.