The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is a massive hydroelectric power plant being constructed on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. In mid-January, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan reached a preliminary agreement aimed at clearing the way for the filling operation of the $5 billion project on the Blue Nile. That was after years of wrangling that saw Egypt threaten military action against the dam. But over the past week, a statement by the US mediators has triggered a fresh stalemate.
On February 28, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin cautioned Addis Ababa not to start filling the dam as planned before a final agreement after Ethiopia stayed away from a followup meeting in Washington. The following day, Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew slammed the US for being “undiplomatic” and called for continued talks to settle unresolved matters.
Ethiopia has criticized the US for diverging from its role as mediator. Talk of US bias in the process it is meant only to observe, alongside the World Bank, is doing the rounds in Ethiopia, with some analysts seeing Washington’s strong support for Cairo as a means fostering US leverage in the Middle East. Egypt has taken sharp aim at Ethiopia, accusing it of boycotting the last Washington round and warning that it will use all means necessary to safeguard its interests.
*The views of the above article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Africa Speaks 4 Africa or its editorial team.