MEETING HALFWAY

There was nothing more important for the Ethiopian power circles over the past week than hosting the 61 years old Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussien Khalil el-Sisi. The President was in Ethiopia for a three-day official visit. A former commander-in-chief of the Egyptian military and Minister of Defence & Military Production, el-Sisi was in Ethiopia to discuss with the Ethiopian leadership how best to further the commercial and political relationship of the two countries. High on the agenda of the first official state visit by a seating Egyptian president in 30 years was the issue of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a mega hydro-electric power dam Ethiopia is building over the Nile River. Ever since the construction of the Dam, formerly known as Project X, came to reality four years ago, Egyptians have been feeling uneasy about it for they see it as a treat to their share of the Nile waters. No matter how much the Ethiopian leadership, including Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, tried to convince the Egyptians that the construction of the Dam will not reduce the flow of the river, Egyptian remained suspicious. The latest official visit of el-sisi, however, brought good news to the sphere as the three countries with high stake on the River – Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia – signed a Declaration of Principles (DoP) document meant to guide their future negotiations few days before. But a lot remains before a concrete agreement on the can be sealed.

PLEASE SEE THE FULL STORY ON AGENDA PAGE.


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.