Sudan on Friday announced that it would take part in a mini-African summit slated for July 21 regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
“Sudan has received an invitation from South Africa, the current chair of the African Union, to participate in a mini-summit on the GERD on July 21,” said Sudan’s Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Yasir Abbas on his Twitter account.
#Sudan has received an invitation from the current president of the African Union to participate in a mini-summit on #GERD on July 21 … We look forward to participating in the summit with a view to reach three parties agreement on the filling and operating of the #GERD
— Prof. Yasir Abbas (@MinY_Abbas) July 17, 2020
“We are looking forward to participating in the summit to reach a deal regarding filling and operation of the dam,” he added.
Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia have recently ended a round of talks on the GERD without reaching an agreement on the filling of the dam.
The three countries sent separate reports to the African Union on progress of the talks, waiting for the mini-summit to issue a decision regarding the Ethiopian dam.
Ethiopia started building the GERD in 2011, while Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country that relies on the river for its fresh water, is concerned that the dam might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the water resources.
