Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry and Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel-Aty on Wednesday visited Sudan’s Khartoum to further strategic relations and discuss issues such as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
The two ministers are set to meet Lieutenant Chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and the Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok.
In addition, they are set to hold an expanded session of talks with the Sudanese Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Irrigation at the headquarters of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have held several rounds of negotiations over the past decade, but have ultimately failed to reach an agreement.
The construction of the dam, which began in 2011, is considered to be one of Egypt’s most serious water issues.
Egypt, which relies considerably on freshwater from the Nile, has voiced fears that the GERD would negatively impact the country’s water supply, and has insisted that measures be put in place to protect downstream countries in case of drought during the dam’s filling process.
Ethiopia, on the other hand, has stressed the importance of the project to bolster its economy, where more than half of the population currently lives without access to electricity.
