US mediation led by President Donald Trump is raising Egypt and Ethiopia’s hopes of a deal over Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance dam. Mutual ally and World Bank are also to be involved in talks on reducing the downstream impact of the hydroelectric project being built on the Blue Nile.
So what is the main issue here?
The Nile, which is the world’s longest river supports millions of lives in eastern and northern Africa but is also the source of disagreements between countries.
One of those is the impasse between Ethiopia and Egypt over the project on the Nile. The $4bn Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is designed to be the centrepiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become the continent’s biggest power exporter. But Egypt says the project will severely cut its water supply.
And last week, US President Donald Trump met officials from Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over the matter and tweeted later to say the meeting had gone well.
