Fiery statements continue to come from the three countries involved in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis: Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, as the crisis persists with no signs of resolution. While Cairo and Khartoum warn of the dangers of the second filling of the Ethiopian dam, Addis Ababa insists on completing the filling on schedule during the flood season.
In this context, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly warned on Wednesday that his country is classified among the nations suffering from water poverty, due to population growth coupled with a stagnant share of water resources. Madbouly revealed that the share of an individual in the country is around 600 cubic meters annually, while the threshold for water poverty is 1,000 cubic meters per year.
Meanwhile, Mustafa Hussein Al-Zubair, head of the Sudanese Technical Committee for the Renaissance Dam negotiations, blamed Ethiopia for the damages that Sudan will incur if it insists on proceeding with the second filling of the dam's reservoir in July. Al-Zubair told Sputnik that Ethiopia caused damages to Sudan last July, including the shutdown of several water stations and impact on electricity production. He called for the need to ensure a comprehensive and legal agreement among the three countries regarding the second filling of the reservoir.
Additionally, the Sudanese government announced plans to launch a diplomatic campaign in Africa to gain support for Sudan's position on the dam. The campaign, led by Foreign Minister Mariam Al-Sadiq, will begin in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which currently holds the presidency of the African Union, and will include discussions with the leaders of Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Tuesday that "the downstream countries do not want the African Union's mediation to succeed in the Renaissance Dam crisis." It announced its rejection of "the historical agreements on Nile waters that the two downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan, insist on." The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry continued by saying, "We rely on resuming negotiations regarding the Renaissance Dam under the auspices of the African Union," noting that negotiations are currently focused "only on the filling process of the dam." It considered that "the threats issued by Egypt and Sudan are futile."
With the failure to reach an agreement on this contentious issue that has remained unresolved for years, Ethiopia previously claimed that conspiracies are being plotted against it concerning the Renaissance Dam. Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Seleshi Bekele, expressed in a series of tweets on Sunday that the dam is the nation's pathway out of poverty.
