Ethiopia PM vows not to harm Egypt’s share of Nile water

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali vowed on Sunday that Ethiopia will not harm Egypt’s share of the Nile River water through the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

His remarks came in a joint press conference in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi following their talks on the giant dam that is currently being built on the Nile River.

“I swear to Allah that Ethiopia will not do any harm to Egypt’s water,” said the Ethiopian prime minister during his first visit to Cairo since he assumed office in April.

Upstream Nile Basin country Ethiopia and downstream Sudan eye massive benefits from the GERD construction, while downstream Egypt is concerned it might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the river water.

For his part, Sisi described Egypt’s relations with Ethiopia as “strategic,” promising to maintain cooperation with the Ethiopian side for the best interests of both nations.

“I would like to reiterate that the relation between Egypt and Ethiopia is a strategic partnership relation, and that Egypt’s strategic policy is to enhance common interests with Ethiopia in all fields,” the Egyptian president told the news conference.

Ali’s visit came three weeks after a breakthrough in the talks was seen during a nine-member trilateral ministerial meeting, held in Addis Ababa in mid-May, which comprised the ministers of foreign affairs, those of water resources and the heads of intelligence services of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.

Goobjoog News