Deputy Premier says second filling of GERD will be held as per schedule

Addis Ababa, May 21, 2021 (FBC) – Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Demeke Mekonnen said the second-year filling of the GERD will be conducted as scheduled and agreed by the national scientific research group (NISRG) of the three countries.

The Deputy Prime Minister said this while he was delivering a keynote speech at a webinar meeting entitled, “The equitable use of the Nile: the role of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam for regional cooperation.”

Demeke further said Ethiopia has confidence in the role of the AU in facilitating the negotiations and bringing the process to a successful conclusion and reaffirmed Ethiopia’s conviction on the principle of finding African solutions to African problems.

Egypt and Sudan are attempting to exert unnecessary pressure on Ethiopia through different means including the internationalization and politicization of technical issues which will only undermine trust among the three countries, he added.

The webinar was organized by Ethiopian embassies accredited to neighboring countries and the great lakes region jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.

Present at the meeting and delivering remarks, Deng Dau Deng, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of South Sudan said the GERD is a peace project that will benefit all in the region.

With this understanding, he said the South Sudan parliament will soon ratify the Nile basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), which outlines rights and obligations for the development of the Nile Basin water resources.

He expressed his hope that the tripartite negotiation will be concluded with a mutually beneficial agreement adding that the riparian countries should have been part of the consultation since the river basin is a shared resource.

Members of the GERD negotiating team, Eng. Gedion Asfaw, Zerihun Abebe, and Dr. Yohannes Gebretsadik, including Dr. Emmanuel Kasimbazie, professor of law at Makerere University have tabled presentations on the renaissance dam from technical and legal perspectives.

Ethiopian Ambassadors in Egypt, Dr. Markos Tekle, and in Uganda, Ambassador Alemtsehay Meseret co-chaired the webinar which was organized by Ethiopian embassies accredited to neighboring countries and the great lakes region jointly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.

More than 142 participants have attended the webinar meeting.