Nile, GERD Are African Issues Demanding African Solutions: PM Office Statement (June 27, 2020)

The Extraordinary Meeting of the Bureau of the African Union Assembly was held virtually yesterday on June26, 2020 on the ongoing negotiations between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt with regards to the first filling and annual operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a statement from the Prime Minister Office indicates.

The meeting was convened by South African President and African Union Chair, Cyril Ramaphosa, with the participation of Heads of State of Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt and members of the Assembly Bureau. The leaders underscored that the Nile and the GERD are African issues that must be given African solutions.

The Heads of State of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt provide a statement on the status of the negotiations.

According to the statement, the meeting set directions on the way forward. Accordingly, the three countries have agreed to conclude the negotiation and try to reach an agreement within the next two weeks.

Ethiopia is scheduled to begin filling the GERO within the next two weeks, during which the remaining construction work will continue.

It is in this period, that the three countries have agreed to reach a final agreement on few pending matters, the statement indicated.

The meeting also resolved to notify the United Nations Security Council that the African Union is seized of the matter.

It also instructed the African Union and members of the Bureau to provide technical support for the negotiations and urged Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt to cease unnecessary media escalation, the Statement from the PMO underlined.