04 April 2018•Update: 09 April 2018
By Mohammed Amin
KHARTOUM
High-level delegations from Egypt and Ethiopia arrived late Wednesday in the Sudanese capital to resume long-stalled talks over Addis Ababa’s massive hydroelectric dam project along the Nile river.
Gafar Sumi Tutu, acting spokesman for Sudan's Foreign Affairs Ministry, told Anadolu Agency the delegations comprise foreign ministers and ministers of irrigation as well as the intelligence chiefs of Egypt and Ethiopia.
"Their visit [to Khartoum] comes to start the meetings regarding the renaissance dam on Thursday," he said, adding "all the preparations were put in place to commence the talks".
Technical disagreements between Egypt and Ethiopia have led to the two-year suspension of the talks on the Grand Renaissance Dam.
Egypt has boycotted a meeting of the Eastern Nile Basin countries which took place Tuesday in Khartoum.
In 2011, the Ethiopian government began construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile (a tributary of the Nile River) near the border with Sudan.
In the seven years since, Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have held several rounds of talks on the dam’s anticipated impact on Nile water resources.
Addis Ababa says electricity generated by the dam -- which was originally slated for completion this year -- will help eradicate poverty and contribute to the country’s development.
Egypt, however, fears the dam could adversely affect its historical share of Nile water as defined in a colonial-era water-sharing treaty.
