To great fanfare and some raised eyebrows, the BRICS grouping agreed to expand its membership at its summit in South Africa last month. Less noticed were the longstanding tensions between two other pending members, Egypt and Ethiopia, over the latter’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project, which is in the final stages of completion. In offering both countries membership, BRICS has absorbed a complex regional conflict into its midst, raising questions about the group’s potential to shape global affairs. Ethiopia’s unilateral move exacerbates long-standing Egyptian fears of losing access to vital Nile waters and highlights the current failures of diplomacy aimed at resolving the dispute. Soon after both countries were invited to join BRICS at the August summit, tripartite talks about the GERD between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan—also a downstream state—continued, suggesting renewed impetus in resolving the dispute.

Source: The North Africa Journal September 18, 2023 13:39 UTC