Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to finalize Nile dam deal in weeks

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan to finalize Nile dam deal in weeks

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan will agree a deal to fill the giant Nile dam in two to three weeks, Ethiopia's water minister said on Saturday, a day after leaders from the three countries and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chairs the African Union held an online summit.

"Consensus reached to finalize the #GERD agreement within 2 to 3 weeks,“ Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia's Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy said in a tweet.

The leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia earlier agreed that Ethiopia will refrain from filling its new hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile next month and return to talks aimed at reaching an accord on use of the river's waters, according to statements from the three nations.

The announcement Friday was a modest reprieve from weeks of bellicose rhetoric and escalating tensions over the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Ethiopia had vowed to start filling at the start of the rainy season in July.

Early Saturday, Bekele confirmed that the countries had decided during an African Union summit to restart stalled negotiations and finalize an agreement over the contentious mega-project within two to three weeks, with support from the AU.

Ethiopia has hinged its development ambitions on the colossal dam,