Final talks on River Nile dam take place in Washington on Jan 29

Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt’s foreign ministers are meeting in Washington for finalizing an agreement on the filling and operation of what will be Africa's biggest hydro-electric dam.

Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt agreed following a meeting in the Washington DC that the mega dam on the River Nile should be filled in stages during the rainy season. An Ethiopian delegation led by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedu Andargachew included Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Dr Seleshi Bekele as well as water engineers and lawyers.

The meeting will focus on reviewing the legal write up of the agreement on filling and operation that started in Khartoum last week. The draft was based on the already technically negotiated results, Seleshi Bekele said. “The main elements of the technical results include principles, filling stages, retained volumes of water in the dam, reservoir operation, drought and its management, data exchange and coordination mechanisms,” he said over Twitter.

Ethiopia desires to commence producing electricity as early as possible. But Egypt is mainly concerned about its water supplies if it is filled too fast, BBC noted. However, the negotiators are offering a win-to-win for both Ethiopia and Egypt. Experts fear if the issue remains unsolved, the countries may be involved in wars.

Filling the dam in stages during the July and August wet season will allow for Ethiopia’s ‘early generation of electricity’ while ‘providing appropriate mitigation measures for Egypt and Sudan in case of severe droughts,’ the joint statement noted.

The US Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the World Bank will attend the meeting as observers. According to Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia will commence filling the dam at the end of 2020. It is expected to be completed within six to seven years. Around 80 percent of its construction has already been completed.

The final deal is likely to be signed on Wednesday, January 29. Experts believe they can emerge with the final texts to the governments to settle or end the tensions.