Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Shoukry delivers message from Sisi to DR Congo President over GERD talks


Sat 03 Apr 2021 | 09:40 PM
H-Tayea

On Sunday, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, who doubles as chairman of the African Union, received the Egyptian foreign minister, Sameh Shuokry, and Dr. Mohamed Abdel-Ati, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation in Kinshasa, where they held a new round of negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

During the talks, Shoukry delivered a message from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to his Congolese counterpart Tshisekedi that affirms Egypt's keenness on the success of the AU-sponsored negotiations over the GERD.

According to the message, the Egyptian president also appreciated the great efforts made by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to launch a negotiation process that leads to a fair, balanced, and legally binding agreement that takes into account the interests of the three countries (Egypt-Sudan and Ethiopia) and strengthens the relations of integration and cooperation among them.

 

Sisi's message confirmed that Egypt has a sincere political intention to reach the desired agreement at the earliest possible opportunity and before the next flood season.

"Egypt hopes that the current talks in Kinshasa will succeed in launching an effective path for negotiations with the participation of international partners. This enables the three countries to find solutions to controversial technical and legal issues in order to formulate a comprehensive agreement for filling and operating the Renaissance Dam," the message read.

 

The meeting comes a few days after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi took a hard line on the GERD dispute, warning that a compromise in Egypt’s water share was a “red line”.

 

He pledged action if the country’s share of water from the Nile is jeopardized.

 

“No one can take a drop of water from Egypt,” El-Sisi said, warning of “inconceivable instability in the region that no one could imagine” if that is to happen.

 

His remarks followed a condemnation statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry, objecting to Ethiopia’s “sovereignty language” when speaking about the transboundary River Nile.

 

The statement also reiterated the rejection of Ethiopia’s plans to complete the dam filling in July with or without an agreement.

 

Ethiopian officials have continued to affirm these plans although Egypt and Sudan have affirmed that implementing the second filling in July before reaching an agreement would have a disastrous impact.

 

On Friday, Ethiopia’s President Sahle-Work Zewde also affirmed her country is preparing for the second phase of the massive dam filling.

 

“We have fulfilled the first phase of the Renaissance Dam filling after overcoming challenges and pressures,” Zewde said in a video that was published in Amharic and translated by Al-Ain.

 

She added that “Ethiopia is determined to complete the construction of the dam that is aspired by all Ethiopians and represents the pillars of the state’s developmental endeavors.”

 

Zewde said her country failed in the past to take advantage of its water resources for years due to the limited capabilities as well as due to regional and international circumstances.

 

She said that GERD is the cornerstone of Ethiopians in overcoming poverty and turning the life of Ethiopians for the better.

 

“The Renaissance Dam is a historic property of Ethiopians that is established [and] that is built by [them] sharing their wealth, time, work and knowledge," she added.