AU should exert maximum effort on GERD negotiations: Experts

Addis Ababa, March 20, 2020 (FBC) -The African Union (AU) should fulfil its responsibility in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) negotiations by ensuring that the union is not side-lined in the future processes, scholars said.

Non-African actors are increasingly present in the negotiations while the African Union (AU) is playing a marginal role, they claimed.

In addition to supporting the negotiations and the implementation of a possible agreement, there are critical lessons to be learned from the negotiations for the AU on how to manage future maritime and freshwater disputes, the scholars noted.

Institute for Security Studies (ISS) Senior Researcher and Training Coordinator, Meressa Dessu told ENA that the role of AU is significant to resolve the various disputes in Africa.

AU has instruments like conflict prevention, conflict management, and post-conflict resolution that can be applied for disputes on issues such as the Nile River.

The senior researcher believes that the African Union has the responsibility to promote peace, security and stability in the continent in the spirit of principle of “African solutions to Africa’s problems.

“The Nile issue is an African problem,” Meressa underscored.

He said “The Nile issue affects over 10 member states of the African Union, this shows that the union has the responsibility to resolve issues related to Nile River.”

According to Meressa, the African Union is also close to the problems in terms of proximity, knowledge and psychological makeup. So, “I think the AU could have been a better neutral mediator in this process.”

On other hand, the senior researcher noted that the statement issued by the Arab League ‘is biased” as they did not see the other side of the dispute.

Meressa said the statement may add tension, suspicion and misunderstanding, but never helps the ongoing negotiations on equal utilization and reasonable use of Nile River.

Another Senior Researcher from the same institute, Dawit Yohannes, said AU should play a particular role in resolving the emerging dispute on the continent.

The dispute might have deep implications in terms of peace and security for the region, he stated, adding that this is why the AU should take part in resolving these kinds of disputes in the continent.

“African Union should play roles in these kinds of disputes based on the principle of African solutions to African problems,” he stressed.

It is to be recalled that Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have been negotiating for over eight years to reach agreement on the filling and operation of the dam. The utilization of Nile River is beyond negotiation.