Monday, June 22, 2020

Kenya Says Ethiopian Dam Useful for Regional Economic Integration
Kenya understands the economic relevance of Ethiopian dam for regional economic integration

Ethiopian Ambassador to Ethiopia , Meles Alem, meeting with Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya, Justin Muturi. Photo credit : Ethiopian Embassy in Kenya

Borkena
June 18, 2020

Egypt pursued a combination of trickery, belligerent and diplomatic ways to ensure that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will not see daylight which means that more than 65 percent of Ethiopians will have access to electricity. Completion of the dam also means that investors intending to invest in Ethiopia will have a reliable power supply.

The electric power supply is relevant to other countries in the Horn of Africa.

Kenya gets it. Speaker of the National Assembly of Kenya, Justin Muturi, said that GERD is useful for regional economic integration, according to a report by Fana Broadcasting Corporation (FBC).

It was during a meeting in his office with Ethiopian Ambassador to Kenya, Meles Alem, that Honourable Muturi expressed his views about the Ethiopian Dam project.

“The negotiation over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam needs to be based on give and take principles for all negotiating parties to be a winner,” he is cited as saying.

The Ethiopian Embassy in Kenya said the Honourable Justin Muturi is briefed about the ongoing tripartite negotiation between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt.

Regarding the GERD negotiation, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta is advancing the principle that African problems need African solutions.

Egypt wanted the involvement of the United States and the World Bank in the negotiation, but it did not bear fruit as Ethiopia resisted what it called infringement on its sovereign rights.

It was with a relentless diplomatic effort of Sudan that Egypt agreed to resume tripartite talk and the three countries had their seventh sessions. This time South Africa is also taking part as an observer.

Ethiopia maintains its position that the negotiation should focus only on GERD, not the Nile water. The reason, for Ethiopia, is that all Nile riparian countries need to be a part of it if the entire Nile water is to be negotiated.  

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