Ethiopian Prime Minister: GERD Construction to Continue

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stressed that the construction works of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will continue, according to his Office Statement issued early Saturday.

An emergency African Union Executive Council virtual session chaired by South African president Cyril Ramaphosa was held on Friday. Other attendees included Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

During the mini-African summit, it was announced that Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan will agree on a deal to fill the Renaissance Dam on the Nile river in two to three weeks.

“Consensus reached to finalize the GERD agreement within 2 to 3 weeks,” Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy said in a tweet.

However, the Ethiopian premier office stated in the statement that "Ethiopia is scheduled to begin filling the GERD within the next two weeks."

In this regard, the African Union and the mini-summit attendees urged Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to cease "unnecessary media escalation," the Ethiopian PM Office added.

https://twitter.com/PMEthiopia/status/1276772158564380672

Ethiopian Prime Minister Says Talks Were Fruitful

Ethiopia's Ahmed described the talks as fruitful. “Our continental organization, with a Pan-African spirit, is the right space to dialogue on issues that are of value to Africa,” he added. 

On his part, Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was more forthcoming, saying in a statement that “it has been agreed upon that the dam filling will be delayed until an agreement is reached”.

“A legally binding final agreement for all parties stressing the prevention of any unilateral moves, including the filling of the dam, will be sent in a letter to the U.N. Security Council to consider it in its session discussing the Renaissance Dam issue next Monday,” said Egyptian Presidency Media Office on Friday.