AFRICANGLOBE - Consultations among experts of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt
aimed at determining the impact of Ethiopia's $4.8 billion dam project on
the Nile's upper reaches halted amid differences between Egypt and Ethiopia,
an official said Sunday.
The Tripartite National Committee (TNC) - a 12-member experts' panel
responsible of facilitating implementation of recommendations of the
International Panel of Experts concerning Ethiopia's hydroelectric dam
project - had so far held two working sessions in Addis Ababa and Cairo.
"The third session was supposed to be held in Khartoum on December 4-6, but
could not be held due to disagreements," Bizuneh Tolcha, a senior official
with the Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Energy and Irrigation, told reporters.
The experts' panel recommended that two studies get conducted - one on the
hydrological simulation model and another on a trans-boundary environmental,
economic and social impact assessment, which led to the creation of the TNC
by the three countries to get those studies done.
During the last two meetings, the three countries, according to Tolcha, were
able to produce a list of seven firms, out of which only one would be
selected to conduct the studies.
"Each country was supposed to come up with its proposals that comprise
technical evaluation of the firms, but during a preparatory conference in
Cairo on November 4, a disagreement occurred as to the points to be included
in the studies," Tolcha said, declining to give further details.
"The matter has since been referred to the relevant ministers of the three
countries so that they resolve the matter," he said. "Though minor, that
disagreement has come as a stumbling block against the progress of the
tripartite talks."
Ethiopian says the dam project is meant to generate badly-need energy. But
the project has strained Ethiopia's relations with downstream Egypt, which
fears the project will reduce "its water share".
Addis Ababa, for its part, insists the new dam will benefit downstream
states Egypt and Sudan, both of which will be invited to purchase the
electricity generated by the dam.
The two countries agreed to resume tripartite talks - which also included
downstream country Sudan - after Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam
Desalegn and Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met in Equatorial Guinea
in June.
According to the original schedule, the TNC should meet in Addis Ababa on
December 16 to select the firm to conduct the two studies.