AfrElec: Egypt to host third round of talks on contentious $5bn GERD

With no substantial progress achieved during the latest round of negotiations on the long contentious Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Egypt and Sudan have agreed to continue talks with Addis Ababa in October.

Ethiopia hosted a second round of the trilateral negotiation between the three countries on September 23-24, nearly two weeks after officially announcing that it had already completed the fourth and final filling of the dam reservoir, despite objections from Egypt and Sudan.

Ethiopia has been locked in a prolonged dispute with the two downstream countries over the $5bn hydroelectric project, built near the source of the Blue Nile and expected to generate over 6,000MW of power upon completion, since its inception in 2011.

The next round of talks about the GERD, which Ethiopia’s neighbours fear will undermine their access to water for drinking and irrigation, are due to be held in Cairo next month.

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