Experts Commend Continued AU Mediation in Resolving Differences on GERD

Addis Ababa, April 3/2021/ENA/  The African Union (AU) should continue its efforts to resolve the differences between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as it the “only institution fit to resolve the problem,” experts said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Addis Ababa University Center for African and Oriental Studies Assistant Professor Samuel Tefera said the Government Ethiopia has declared a number of times that it favors negotiations under the arbitration of AU.

“The AU negotiation is not in a state that we can say it has failed or could not bring anything,” he added. “ It is an ongoing process that needs much time to bridge the differences among the countries.”   

Samuel strongly believes that Ethiopia has taken a good position because Africans need to focus on African institutions and solutions to address their challenges.  

Water expert, Fekahmed Negash said it is important to focus on African institutions. “The best institution that can assist the countries is the African Union because the three countries are members of the union.”

The objective of AU is to ensure peace and security among the nations of Africa. “Resolving the differences and misunderstandings among the three countries with regard to the dam is therefore the objective of the union,” he elaborated.

Bringing in a third parties to the negotiations only serves the interest of the third parties, the expert stated, adding that the three countries themselves can genuinely sit around the table and  resolve their problems.

“It is fresh in our memory what happened when the US and World Bank came into the negotiations. They actually intensified the conflict among the countries. So, it is important to focus on African institutions,” he stressed.

On other hand, Fekahmed noted that the downstream countries, particularly Egypt, wants to politicize and securitize the water issue so that the status quo can be maintained.

“They want the water issue to become a diplomatic issue of giving and taking and they want to continue with their hegemonic position by saber rattling, which is not actually helpful,” the expert underscored.

Alliance for GERD in Canada Executive Board Member, Getu Fana said on his part that the African Union did a good job in terms of resolving the dam issues.

AU has to continue working to resolve issues like the filling of the GERD, he added.

“The ambition of Egypt and Sudan is to use the GERD project as a hostage to negotiate about  the Nile water use and get a binding agreement with Ethiopia. I don’t think that Egypt or Sudan want to bring to the negotiating table either the US, UN or EU to solve the real issue.”  

Getu pointed out that the real issue can only be solved through the good faith that Egypt and Sudan can bring to the table with good intention to solve problems.

“I think bringing other players to the table will not solve issues on the dam. The African Union should continue with its role of negotiating the three countries,” he underlined.

According to him, Ethiopia went the extra mile to address some of the concerns of Egypt and Sudan with regard to the construction and operation of GERD.

The trilateral negotiation on GERD is expected to resume this weekend under the chairmanship of Democratic Republic of Congo.