Sudan PM Invites Ethiopia, Egypt to GERD Summit

Sudan PM Invites Ethiopia, Egypt to GERD Summit

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has invited his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts to a closed meeting to discuss the long-running dispute over Addis Ababa's mega-dam on the Blue Nile, his office said.

The premier's office said in a statement late Tuesday that Hamdok expressed concern the dam's construction had reached an advanced stage, making "reaching a deal before the start of operation an urgent and pressing matter".

He "invited his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouli and Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed to a summit within 10 days to evaluate the negotiations regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)."

The statement said the planned summit will be held by videoconference.

Last week, talks involving the three countries hosted by the African Union chair, Congo, failed to reach a binding agreement over the operation of GERD and the filling of its vast reservoir.

Ever since construction began in 2011, Egypt has regarded the dam as an existential threat to its water supplies, while Khartoum fears its own dams would be harmed if Ethiopia fills the reservoir without a deal.

Last week, Ethiopia offered to share data with Egypt and Sudan, but the proposal was rejected by Khartoum and Cairo which complained of "fallacies" in the figures and an "unacceptable tendency"