Egypt: Water Shortage due to Renaissance Dam Could Destabilize the Region
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The Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation highlights the repercussions of filling the Renaissance Dam on the region's security and Egypt's agricultural sector.
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The Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Ati
The Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Abdel-Ati, confirmed that any water shortage that Egypt will suffer from as a result of Ethiopia's construction of the Renaissance Dam will negatively affect security in the region.
The Ministry said in a statement, posted on its Facebook account today, Saturday, that Abdel-Ati indicated, during his meeting in Cairo with the American water expert Matthew Parks, that Ethiopia is dealing with the Renaissance Dam crisis from the perspective that it has to be filled for vital necessities, but this is not true.
Abdel-Ati also stressed that any water shortage will affect the workers in the agricultural sector, which will cause social problems and security instability in the region, not to mention illegal immigration.
The Egyptian Minister indicated that his country made many attempts to build trust during the negotiations, but this was not met with good faith by Ethiopia.
In the same context, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed last Monday the need to resume negotiations on the Renaissance Dam as soon as possible.
During a meeting with his American counterpart Anthony Blinken, prior to the strategic dialogue between Egypt and the United States, Shoukry called for the resumption of negotiations to agree on the Renaissance Dam under the auspices of the President of the African Union, and in line with the UN Security Council presidential statement on September 15.
The Security Council had called on the parties to the conflict (Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia) to resume negotiations, stressing the need to return to the 2015 Declaration of Principles.
