(((THIS LOOKS LIKE A THREAT)))DR Congo Hosts 'Last Chance' Talks Over Ethiopia's Contested Nile Dam!!! WEEY GUUD !!!
Posted: 05 Apr 2021, 07:56
DR Congo hosts 'last chance' talks over Ethiopia's contested Nile dam
Issued on: 05/04/2021 - 07:26
2 min
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan held talks in Kinshasa on Sunday over Addis Ababa's contested giant dam on the Nile, seen as vital by Ethiopia and a threat by downstream Egypt and Sudan.
"These negotiations represent the last chance that the three countries must seize to reach an accord," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Egyptian media.
He said the accord should allow the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to be filled in time to begin operations in the coming months, before the next rains.
The dispute over the GERD, built across the Blue Nile, has been simmering for around a decade.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, who became chairman of the African Union in February, urged the foreign ministers as he opened the talks "to launch a new dynamic".
"I ask you all to make a fresh start, to open one or several windows of hope, to seize every opportunity," he said.
He welcomed the willingness of the participants "to seek African solutions for African problems together".
Egypt and Sudan this month called on Kinshasa to steer efforts to relaunch negotiations on the contested dam.
For Tshisekedi, "The human dimension must be at the heart of these tripartite negotiations."
The people of all three countries have a right to water, food and health, he stressed.
The US ambassador to DR Congo, Mike Hammer, attended the start of the talks, which were set to wrap up on Monday.
The Nile, the world's longest river, is a lifeline supplying both water and electricity to the 10 countries it crosses.
Upstream Ethiopia says hydroelectric power produced by the GERD will be vital to meet the energy needs of its 110 million people.
Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, sees the dam as an existential threat.
Sudan, also downstream, fears its own dams will be compromised if Ethiopia proceeds with filling the GERD before a deal is reached.
Last Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed his country's concerns, warning, "Nobody will be permitted to take a single drop of Egypt's water, otherwise the region will fall into unimaginable instability."
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African Union’s Tshisekedi calls for technical mechanism to end GERD issue
April 4, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi called on Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia to agree on a technical mechanism paving the way for a final settlement on the filing and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Félix Tshisekedi DRC President speaks in a meeting on the GERD issues on 4 April 2021 (ACP photo)Ministerial delegations from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan Sunday have resumed meetings in the DRC capital Kinshasa on the GERD issue, after separate meetings with the three countries and the Congolese mediation team.
Khartoum, which had suspended its participation in the discussions, now calls for an international quadripartite mediation led by the African Union as the direct talks process failed to produce an agreement after 9 years of talks.
President Tshisekedi expressed hope that the two-day meeting in Kinshasa offers the opportunity for a deal on the "outstanding technical and legal questions" paving the way to a complete and final settlement, reported the official L’Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP) on Sunday.
He underscored that this roadmap should be based on the Declaration of Principles of 2015 " as a constructive basis for all technical and legal developments".
Also, he stressed to resume talks from where the parties have stopped during the past year and not to come out with new proposals for a new process.
"We must consolidate the achievements of this draft agreement, overcome the pitfalls and move forward," Tshisekedi stressed after referring to what has been achieved during the past year under the mandate of the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The delegations of the three countries are led by foreign ministers. Also, representatives of the United States and the European Union are taking part in the meeting.
After a two-hour meeting, the three delegations will meet again on Monday.
Besides, the Sudanese proposal for a four-way mediation, Cairo and Khartoum say they want a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the giant dam before launching the phase of the GERD reservoir next July.
==========================================================================================================
Issued on: 05/04/2021 - 07:26
2 min
Foreign ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan held talks in Kinshasa on Sunday over Addis Ababa's contested giant dam on the Nile, seen as vital by Ethiopia and a threat by downstream Egypt and Sudan.
"These negotiations represent the last chance that the three countries must seize to reach an accord," Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Egyptian media.
He said the accord should allow the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to be filled in time to begin operations in the coming months, before the next rains.
The dispute over the GERD, built across the Blue Nile, has been simmering for around a decade.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, who became chairman of the African Union in February, urged the foreign ministers as he opened the talks "to launch a new dynamic".
"I ask you all to make a fresh start, to open one or several windows of hope, to seize every opportunity," he said.
He welcomed the willingness of the participants "to seek African solutions for African problems together".
Egypt and Sudan this month called on Kinshasa to steer efforts to relaunch negotiations on the contested dam.
For Tshisekedi, "The human dimension must be at the heart of these tripartite negotiations."
The people of all three countries have a right to water, food and health, he stressed.
The US ambassador to DR Congo, Mike Hammer, attended the start of the talks, which were set to wrap up on Monday.
The Nile, the world's longest river, is a lifeline supplying both water and electricity to the 10 countries it crosses.
Upstream Ethiopia says hydroelectric power produced by the GERD will be vital to meet the energy needs of its 110 million people.
Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97 percent of its irrigation and drinking water, sees the dam as an existential threat.
Sudan, also downstream, fears its own dams will be compromised if Ethiopia proceeds with filling the GERD before a deal is reached.
Last Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed his country's concerns, warning, "Nobody will be permitted to take a single drop of Egypt's water, otherwise the region will fall into unimaginable instability."
==========================================================================================================
African Union’s Tshisekedi calls for technical mechanism to end GERD issue
April 4, 2021 (KHARTOUM) - Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi called on Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia to agree on a technical mechanism paving the way for a final settlement on the filing and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Félix Tshisekedi DRC President speaks in a meeting on the GERD issues on 4 April 2021 (ACP photo)Ministerial delegations from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan Sunday have resumed meetings in the DRC capital Kinshasa on the GERD issue, after separate meetings with the three countries and the Congolese mediation team.
Khartoum, which had suspended its participation in the discussions, now calls for an international quadripartite mediation led by the African Union as the direct talks process failed to produce an agreement after 9 years of talks.
President Tshisekedi expressed hope that the two-day meeting in Kinshasa offers the opportunity for a deal on the "outstanding technical and legal questions" paving the way to a complete and final settlement, reported the official L’Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP) on Sunday.
He underscored that this roadmap should be based on the Declaration of Principles of 2015 " as a constructive basis for all technical and legal developments".
Also, he stressed to resume talks from where the parties have stopped during the past year and not to come out with new proposals for a new process.
"We must consolidate the achievements of this draft agreement, overcome the pitfalls and move forward," Tshisekedi stressed after referring to what has been achieved during the past year under the mandate of the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The delegations of the three countries are led by foreign ministers. Also, representatives of the United States and the European Union are taking part in the meeting.
After a two-hour meeting, the three delegations will meet again on Monday.
Besides, the Sudanese proposal for a four-way mediation, Cairo and Khartoum say they want a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the giant dam before launching the phase of the GERD reservoir next July.
==========================================================================================================