Ethiopia disturbed by Arab League discussing Renaissance Dam issue
4 Min Read
The Ethiopian government responds to Egypt's foreign ministers' statements about the Renaissance Dam and the discussion of the issue in the Arab League.
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Ethiopians protest at a demonstration organized by the city mayor's office held at a stadium in the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on May 30, 2021 (AP Photo)
The situation is escalating between Cairo and Addis Ababa, especially after Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry accused Ethiopia of "continuing to fill and operate the Renaissance Dam without a binding agreement."
In the wake of Shoukry's statements, Ethiopia said it was dissatisfied with the Arab League's decision regarding the filling and operation of the Renaissance Dam, stressing that the Nile, including the dam, should be operated and used by the competent parties in Africa.
Addis Ababa underlined that it was committed to continuing to fill and operate the dam in accordance with the Declaration of Principles agreement reached in March 2015 and signed by Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan with full respect for the principle of the fair and reasonable use of transboundary waters.
"We should not remind the Arab League that the Nile River and all riparian countries are in Africa, and the League once again acts as a spokesperson for one country, ignoring the basic principles of international law," the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Such attempts to politicize the issue of the Renaissance Dam do not enhance friendly relations, nor do they support efforts to reach amicable solutions, because they are not based on facts or upheld by law," Addis Ababa underlined.
Furthermore, Ethiopia underlined that the Arab League's description of the negotiations between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan regarding the Renaissance Dam was "incorrect", as "the African Union is facilitating tripartite negotiations to solve the remaining outstanding issues and was guided by the principles of the African solutions to African problems."
The Ethiopian statement concluded by saying: "the truth is that Egypt, with its strict stance in preserving the allocation of water on the basis of the colonial era, and its continuous attempts to internationalize the matter, is the reason for the delays in the Renaissance Dam negotiations."
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Thursday that his country was near total dependence on River Nile waters.
"The continuation of Ethiopia’s unilateral practices can potentially carry a grave danger for Egypt, which suffers from water scarcity," Shoukry told Arab foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital of Cairo.
The Ethiopian government is continuing its unilateral and uncooperative practices, Shoukry said, urging the Arab countries to persuade Addis Ababa "to embrace the necessary political will to accept one of the compromise solutions offered on the negotiations table."
What do you need to know?
Despite African Union-sponsored talks, Ethiopia and its downstream neighbors Egypt and Sudan have yet to reach an agreement on the GERD's operations.
Because of their reliance on Nile waters, Cairo and Khartoum see it as a threat.
However, Ethiopia sees it as critical to the electrification and development of Africa's second most populous country.
It was one of Africa's fastest-growing economies until November 2020, when war broke out in northern Ethiopia between federal government forces and Tigray People's Liberation Front.
Egypt and Sudan had no immediate reaction to Friday's developments.
However, Egypt, an arid country that relies on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, protested to the UN Security Council last month that the third filling was underway.
It is worth noting that Ethiopia started generating electricity from the GERD in February 2022. The two operational turbines, out of a total of 13, can currently generate 750 megawatts of electricity.
The structure is 145 meters (475 feet) high and 1.8 kilometers long, straddling a Nile tributary in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border.
The project was launched by Meles Zenawi, the Tigrayan leader who ruled Ethiopia for more than two decades until his death in 2012.
Furthermore, Ethiopia announced in August 2022 that it had completed the third filling of its Blue Nile mega-dam, a new milestone that was seen as a catalyst of further tensions with downstream neighbors Egypt and Sudan.
