Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agree on Nile dam

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan agree on Nile dam

 Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have agreed to reach an agreement in two to three weeks to fill the Nile dam reservoir.

According to the news agency Reuters, the African Union has mediated in resolving the decades-old dispute over the river's water supply through an agreement.

The three countries have been discussing for years how to manage their hydropower project by filling the reservoir by securing Egypt's water supply from the Nile, but no solution has been found.

The two tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile meet near the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and flow into the Nile. The river flows into the Mediterranean Sea from Sudan through Egypt.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is being built on the Nile River, about 15 kilometers from the Sudanese border. This tributary is the main source of blue water and its origin is in Ethiopia.

Ethiopian Water Minister Seleshi said on Saturday afternoon that the three countries had agreed to finalize an agreement in two to three weeks.

He was speaking a day after an online summit between the leaders of the three countries, including South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, chairman of the African Union.

The 400 million hydroelectric projects will generate 6,450 megawatts of electricity, and Ethiopia says it is essential for their economic development. The Nile, on the other hand, supplies 90 percent of Egypt's freshwater.

In a statement, the Ethiopian prime minister's office said the three countries had agreed that the Nile River and the Grand Renaissance Dam would "solve the African issue and come from Africa."

The agreement stipulates postponing the filling of the reservoir. This has put an end to the stalemate that had prevailed for months.

The Ethiopian statement said that the African Union, not the UN Security Council, would provide assistance and practical support to the three countries in the peace talks.

Egypt appealed to the Security Council as a last-ditch diplomatic effort to stop Ethiopia from filling the dam's reservoir. The UN Security Council is expected to convene on Monday to discuss the issue.