By Kieran Burke/DW
Egypt and Sudan on Saturday welcomed an offer by US President Donald Trump to pick up mediation efforts with Ethiopia over the Nile mega-dam project.
Last year, Ethiopia inaugurated the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a move that was not well received by neighboring Egypt and Sudan, downstream.
On Friday, Trump posted on social media a letter he sent to el-Sissi, saying: “I am to U.S. between Egypt and Ethiopia to responsibly resolve the question of ’The Nile Water Sharing’ once and for all.”
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he valued “President Trump’s attention to the central importance of the Nile River issue for Egypt,” in a post on social media.
He said his country is committed to “serious and constructive cooperation with the Nile Basin countries, based on the principles of international law, in a manner that achieves shared interests without causing harm to any party.”
Sudan’s de facto ruler Abdel-Fattah Burhan also warmly received Trump’s offer saying the initiative was a step “to find sustainable and satisfactory solutions that preserve everyone’s rights.”
There have been a number of attempts at mediation between the three countries over the last decade — involving, at different times, the US, the World Bank, Russia and the United Arab Emirates — but all have fallen flat.
The GERD is Africa’s largest hydroelectric facility and aims to produce more than 5,000 megawatts, doubling Ethiopia’s electricity generation capacity.
However,Cairo and Khartoum want a legally binding agreement on how GERD will be filled and operated.
Egypt and Sudan depend on the Nile River for the supply of fresh water for their respective populations and agricultural activities.
Sudan wants coordination of the operation and replenishment of the GERD’s reservoir to avert unexpected impacts, like multi-year droughts, on its dams.
Ethiopia has yet to respond to Trump’s mediation offer.
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