Cairo: Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have failed to reach an agreement on rules of negotiating their long-running dispute over an Ethiopian dam on the Nile.
The latest debacle came at an online meeting of the three countries’ water ministers that had sought to work out negotiation rules.
“During the talks, it became clear that there is no consensus among the three countries on the methodology for completing negotiations in the coming period,” the Egyptian Water Ministry said without elaborating.
The three countries agreed that each will present a report delineating its view on recent talks and vision for the way ahead to South Africa, being the current president of the African Union, the ministry added in a statement.
Negotiating process
In July, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan started online African Union-sponsored negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, as part of a years-long negotiating process. Talks have since failed to make headway.
Egyptian officials have repeatedly blamed Ethiopia for the deadlock and accused Addis Ababa of playing for time.
The Ethiopian dam has triggered wide fears in Egypt, which relies heavily on the Nile to cover the water needs of its population of over 100 million people.
Ethiopia has repeatedly denied Egyptians’ worries and defended its construction of the 5-billion-dollar dam as being vital for its development and lifting its population of around 107 million out of poverty.
