A satellite image shows Ethiopia’s massive hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile River, a Nile tributary, on July 11. The imagery from Maxar Technogies reveals that a large reservoir has started to fill behind the dam.
Photo: Maxar/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesEthiopia’s prime minister said negotiations on Tuesday with Egypt and Sudan had paved the way for an agreement over the country’s hydroelectric dam on one of the Nile River’s tributaries, in a sign of progress in efforts to end a decadelong dispute over management of the river’s waters.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said talks convened by South Africa and the African Union and held over videoconference had resulted in a “major common understanding” toward an eventual deal, as he also acknowledged for the first time that the country had begun filling the dam because of significant rainfall in the area.
Since its construction was announced in 2011, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has raised tensions with Sudan and Egypt resulting in intermittent negotiation and even threats of war. Ethiopia says the $4.8 billion dam, located on the Blue Nile, will transform the lives of some 65 million citizens by providing electricity to rural parts of the country.
Egypt regards the project as a potential existential threat that could siphon off water that sustains the lives of its 100 million people, the vast majority of whom live in a narrow band along the banks of the Nile.
Ethiopia says the $4.8 billion dam, seen here in December, will transform the lives of some 65 million citizens by providing electricity to rural parts of the country.
Photo: eduardo soteras/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesCairo had hoped to pressure Ethiopia into signing an agreement governing the operation of the dam before the reservoir began filling. The unilateral filling of the dam could weaken Egypt’s leverage in the talks. Last week Ethiopian officials confirmed that satellite images showed rising water in the dam’s reservoir.
The Egyptian and Sudanese leaders acknowledged progress in Tuesday’s talks but were more circumspect in their comments.
The office of Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi said that the three countries had agreed to continue negotiating toward a binding agreement governing the operation of the dam.
Sudan’s prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok, said on Twitter that “promising discussions” at the talks on Tuesday had resulted in “an understanding to continue negotiations that aim to finalize the #GERD filling and operating agreement.”
Mr. Ahmed’s office didn’t release details of the talks, which the countries have agreed to continue. “The Extraordinary Meeting undertaken at the Heads of State and Government level concluded with all parties reaching a major common understanding which paves the way for a breakthrough agreement,” said a statement from his office.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy, here in February, confirmed the country had begun filling the dam despite the absence of a deal over how to manage the Nile’s waters.
Photo: tiksa negeri/ReutersEthiopia said in June that it would begin filling the dam in July, but had yet to publicly confirm it had done so. “Current rainfall and runoff situation in the region have made it conducive to fill the dam,” the statement said.
Growing populations and climate change are adding to the environmental pressures on countries along the Nile, where officials and observers have warned of the risk of conflict in the future over water.
In recent months, Egypt has mounted an international pressure campaign on Ethiopia in an attempt to get Addis Ababa to sign a deal. The U.S., United Nations and other powers have also urged the countries to sign an agreement.
“The window to get a deal is gradually shrinking,” said Riccardo Fabiani, the North Africa Project director at International Crisis Group, referring to the filling of the dam.
— Amira El-Fekki in Cairo contributed to this article.
Write to Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com
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