January30, 2020 (Khartoum) -Ministers from Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia said on Friday a final agreement will be signed by the end of February on the giant Blue Nile hydropower dam that sparked a year-long diplomatic crisis between Cairo and Addis Ababa.
The countries have been at odds over the filling and operation of the $4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), under construction near Ethiopia’s border with Sudan on the Blue Nile, which flows into the Nile river. The three regional powers convened in Washington for what were supposed to be two days of meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday to complete an agreement after talks earlier this month, but negotiations dragged into Friday and disbanded without a final accord.
In a joint statement with the United States and the World Bank after the talks, the nations said they had agreed on a schedule for staged filling of the dam and mitigation mechanisms to adjust its filling and operation during dry periods and drought.
In a statement issued by the Sudanese Ministry of Irrigation, extended to Darfur 24, that the latest round of negotiations achieved a great breakthrough, and the Sudanese delegation played a pivotal role.
The agreement affirmed that the parties will meet later in Washington during the twelfth and thirteenth of February, and it was also agreed that the legal teams will continue to convene until the final draft of the comprehensive agreement is finalized.
“The final agreement on the filling and operation of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be signed at the end of February 2020” the statement concluded
The negotiations were held in the presence of foreign and irrigation ministers of Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia, in addition to technical teams and World Bank representative.