Ethiopia’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Redwan Hussein called on Egypt and Sudan on Saturday not to stick to their stance on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) file as Ethiopians will not wait indefinitely and they expect the green light to put their resources into use. The Ethiopian minister pointed out in a statement that Ethiopia "has provided more opportunities for Egypt and Sudan to benefit from the dam, despite their failure to appreciate it," stressing that Ethiopia will use its resources, without causing any significant harm to the downstream countries. For the Ethiopian minister, according to the Saturday statement, Egypt’s only outstanding issue is that it demands from Ethiopia to release water from the GERD whenever drought occurs, meaning that even if it does not rain in Ethiopia, it must release water from the dam. Egypt and Sudan have been negotiating with Ethiopia for 10 years now to reach a legally binding agreement that regulates the rules of filling and operating the dam, a proposal that has been repeatedly turned down by Ethiopia. Egypt fears the unilateral filling and operation of the dam would have an impact on its water supply and Sudan is concerned about regulating flows to its own dams and their safety.

Source: Ethiopian News February 14, 2022 00:23 UTC