An Egyptian official warned of the consequences of not reaching an agreement on the dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, which sparked a heated dispute with the downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.
Egyptian Minister of Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty said that any shortage of water will affect workers in the agricultural sector, causing security and social instability in the region and increasing illegal immigration.
After meeting with US officials in Cairo, Abdel Aty stated on Nov. 20 that his country showed great flexibility during the various stages of negotiations due to its desire to reach a fair and binding agreement on filling and operating the GERD, taking into account specific procedures to deal with various drought cases as Egypt mainly depends on the Nile River for water supply.
Abdel Aty received Matthew Parks, a water expert in the US government; Nicole Champagne, the US deputy ambassador in Cairo; and representatives of the US Embassy in Cairo. During the meeting, Abdel Aty said, “Egypt tried many times to build confidence during the negotiation stages, but this was not met with goodwill on Ethiopia’s part.”
Abdel Aty accused Ethiopia of deliberately issuing false statements about the GERD in addition to managing it individually in isolation from the downstream countries, which caused billions of dollars in material damage, in an attempt to mitigate the negative effects resulting from these...
The Management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has noted with concern the circulation of unfounded and misleading claims suggesting that its petroleum products are exported to Lom...