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Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed last night held talks on the phone with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

The Prime Minister expressed Ethiopia’s solidarity with the people of Italy in this difficult time.

“We shall overcome this together and united as a global community,” said Prime Minister Dr Abiy in a twitter post.

Italy announced 793 more deaths on Saturday, the second day in a row of the biggest day-to-day increase in the country’s four-week epidemic. The total number of deaths in Italy has now reached 4,825

Ethiopians need to have a bold stance for fair and equitable utilization of the shared water resources of Nile River in their move to overcome poverty, scholars said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, President of Addis Ababa University Professor Tasew Woldehan said Ethiopians are in need of electricity.

Researchers have proved that Ethiopia’s electricity demand is growing by 25 percent every year but the country has wide gap behind its much-needed power supply.

So, the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is a principal development project of Ethiopia to showcase its overwhelming efforts to combat poverty through electricity production from its water resources, he said.  

According to Professor Tasew, Ethiopia can not meet this huge demand without pursuing economic growth and industrial development using its intact resources. 

He noted that Egypt is tarnished for its sneaky and adamant stand on Nile River blowing hot and cold while it is creating perturbs on the process of the tripartite negotiation which was began in ‘good faith’ of Ethiopia and Sudan.

“We have to boldly show to the rest of the world that Ethiopians are committed to utilize our resources so as to overcome poverty,” Professor Tasew underlined.

“So, Ethiopians have to be stand together on the issue of GERD regardless of our differences,” he added.

President of Kotebe Metropolitan University, Doctor Brhanemeskel Tena said for his part that efforts which have been undertaken by the government to cut back the recent pressures from various parties are encouraging though it remains a lot.

He stated that Egypt is cracking to pressurize Ethiopia and trying to block every spot that can lead to a fair and equitable use of Nile waters.

“The recent move by Egyptian government is based on their gluttony interest. There is no legal or natural back ground to deny Ethiopia as the origin of Blue Nile or Abbay,” he stressed.

“So, if all Ethiopians all over the world could stand together, we can achieve what we want. This is not an issue of one party or two. This is a national issue”.

Brhanemeskel noted that along the government and the diplomatic community, Universities and other educational institutions have the responsibility to make the international community conscious the reality by and large the enigmatic policy of Egypt towards unfair Nile waters use.

Ethiopia temporarily suspended its participation in the U.S.-mediated negotiations over the filling and operation of the GERD demanding for fair negotiations.

In 2015, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt agreed on a Declaration of Principles that stipulated an “equitable and reasonable” utilization of the Nile that will not cause “significant harm” to other riparian countries.

H.E. President Sahle-Work exchanged views with the president of Rwanda, H.E. President Paul Kagame on Monday (March 16) in Kigali, on recent developments about the GERD talks.

In his remarks, H.E. President Paul Kagame underscored that cooperation among the Nile Basin countries should take into account the scientific analysis provided by technical experts.

As Egypt considers the Nile as a survival issue, it has to also acknowledge the natural rights of riparian countries to exploit the resource, Kagame added.

Noting that the Nile issue is an issue for all riparian countries, the Rwandan president called on to solve disputes over the river through Africa-based discussions and negotiation forums, adding that his country is committed to being part of the solution.

President Sahle-work for her part said Ethiopia has been committed to establishing the principle of reasonable and equitable water use among the Nile Basin countries.

Citing the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), as an achievement that stems from Ethiopia’s commitment, the President underscored that Ethiopia has been working closely with the rest of the riparian countries.

Ethiopia has also been facilitating comprehensive engagements to address the concerns of the riparian countries since the inception of the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, President Sahle-work added.

She hoped the 2015 Agreement on Declaration of Principles that was signed in Khartoum between Ethiopia, Sudan and, Egypt would be implemented and prove Ethiopia’s stance that the Nile Basin can be a source of cooperation rather than conflict and misunderstanding.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Gedu Andargachew said the river Nile should be a major source of cooperation than conflict.

In his interview with Al ­- Jazeera yesterday, Gedu thoroughly explained Ethiopia’s stance regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). 

He also admired the ‘principle-based’ stance of Sudan on the GERD talks and called on all stakeholders to use the river Nile as a source of cooperation than conflict.

His interview with Al-Jazeera (Arabic) covers a range of issues that shed light on the bone of contention on the ongoing talks on the GERD.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Gedu Andargachew, held talks with his Italian counterpart Luigi Di Maio in today.

During the discussion, he emphasized Ethiopia’s commitment to further bolster the long-standing historical and people-to-people relationship between the two countries.

Gedu expressed his belief that conducting such a dialogue at the level of Foreign Ministers would facilitate the opportunity to jointly review bilateral and multilateral alliances and to consult on ways to further strengthen the cooperation between Ethiopia and Italy.

He urged the Italian Minister to support the implementation of bilateral and continental cooperation agreements signed between the two countries during the visit of Dr. Abiy Ahmed last October to Italy and the visits of Italy’s President and Prime Minister to Ethiopia.

Commending the relationship between the two countries in trade and investment, Gedu called on his Italian counterpart to further deepen relations through investing more in various sectors.

The Minister also called on Luigi Di Maio to closely monitor the implementation of projects that are being undertaken through the Italian Development Cooperation in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian Minister also thanked Italy for its support to Ethiopia’s Homegrown Economic Reform and invited Italian companies to exploit the opportunity.

Gedu has also briefed Luigi Di Maio about Ethiopia’s stances on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the consultation that the Ethiopian Government is currently undertaking with stakeholders at home.

The Foreign Minister of Italy, Luigi Di Maio on his part noted the significance of Ethiopia’s socio-economic reform and expressed his country’s determination to support it.

Engaging in economic opportunities in Ethiopia and helping youth entrepreneurship programs is a key step in preventing illegal immigration, Luigi Di underscored.

He also assured Gedu that Italy would provide capacity building support for the upcoming General elections in Ethiopia.

Luigi Di Maio also hailed Ethiopia’s important role in bringing peace to the Horn of Africa.

During his stay, Gedu will also meet the heads of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to consult on running projects in line with the objectives of Ethiopia’s ongoing economic reform.