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The United Kingdom (UK) has welcomed the continued tripartite negotiations between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The Under Secretary of State for Africa, James Duddridge made the remark in a press conference conducted on Wednesday following the conclusion of his three-day official visit to Ethiopia.

According to Duddridge, during his visit he held discussions with higher government officials about the current status of the GERD and the ongoing tripartite negotiations between the three countries as well as on other issues of mutual concerns.

He said “we welcome President Cyril Ramaphosa’s mediation. We welcome the continued technical discussions on the dam.”

UK’s Under Secretary of State for Africa has also urged the countries to continue with their discussions as it is important for the development of region.

“The dam is not just power for Ethiopia, but it will be sold to Sudan, it will be sold across the region,” he stated.

Ethiopia and the United Kingdom (UK) have signed two grant agreements amounting to £105 million.

The agreements were signed here today by Ahmed Shide, Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance and James Duddridge, UK’s Minister for Africa.

The first grant agreement, amounting to £60 million, will be used for the implementation of land investment for transformation phase 2 program.

The program aims to bring transformative, systematic, and sustainable change in land certification and marketing system in Amhara, Oromia, Tigray and SNNP regional state.

The second grant, amounting £45 million will be used channelled to Ethiopia’s economic transformation program, which is designed in line with out-ward oriented, manufacturing led sustainable and inclusive growth program of Ethiopia.

The aim of the program is to support the Ethiopian government’s vision of export-led manufacturing growth through foreign and domestic investments.

The program will be implemented in Industrial Parks (IPs) built in Oromia, Amhara, Tigray and SNNP regional states.

Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed yesterday said Ethiopia has been increasing its COVID 19 testing capacity as a local company is set to commence production by October 2020.

The premier disclosed that the government received first installment of 1 Million COVID 19 testing kits donated by the local company engaged in production of the medical supply in response to efforts underway to curtail the pandemic.

“Daily testing can now be further increased in the next 3 months, while locally produced testing kits available by October 2020,” Dr. Abiy said.

Ethiopia has conducted 382,339 coronavirus laboratory tests so far as the number of confirmed cases nears 14,000.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed has congratulated Ethiopians on the occasion of the completion of the first year filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

In his message, the Prime Minister said “I would like to congratulate all Ethiopians for taking our dam to this level through our joint efforts.”

“On this day, we Ethiopians knew how to execute and achieve nationally focused projects,” he said, adding “the completion of the first year filling of the dam is a historic day for Ethiopians.”

“I think the world will surely understands that the dam is a turning point to Ethiopia’s move to stand on its own two feet and beat poverty,” he added.

“We conducted the filling of the dam without causing harm to anyone,” he said and added “the dam will benefit the lower riparian countries rather than causing harm to them.”

The Prime Minister reiterated that Ethiopia has no intention of harming Sudan and Egypt during the construction and operation of the dam.

He finally extended his gratitude to those who raised funds, participated in negotiations and to the former Ethiopian Prime Ministers, for their contribution to the success of the dam.

 The European Union (EU) said it supports Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt to reach consensus over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The tree countries have been conducting a trilateral negotiations regarding the filling and operations of the dam for the past years but failed to reach an agreement.

Despite some progresses, the recent African Union (AU)-led negotiation that was held virtually for 11 days also ended with no major breakthrough.

In a statement, Josep Borrell, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Vice-President of the European Commission said “the European Union fully supports a positive outcome for all parties.”

“In the days ahead, the parties will have to work out whether they can come to a collective agreement,” he added.

“If they do, and we encourage them to choose the conciliatory way forward, the benefits could be considerable: trust will be built; tensions diffused; and possibilities renewed for a conducive environment for investment in the development and water security of the entire Basin.”

Borrell also commended efforts of South Africa to find solution regarding the dam.

“As Chair of the African Union, South Africa has dedicated considerable efforts to finding a solution to the differences among Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt created by the construction and filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD),” he said.

“The European Union welcomes this engagement, which deserves unanimous support from the international community.”