Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk said, on Monday, he would visit Egypt and Ethiopia to push resumption of negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
The announcement came during a phone call Hamdock made to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, which was initially to express “the sympathy of the Sudanese people with the United States regarding the outbreak of the coronavirus.”
Hamdouk expressed his intention to visit Cairo and Addis Ababa soon to urge the two parties to resume GERD negotiations, and to complete negotiations on remaining outstanding issues.
He added that the negotiation process in Washington had achieved a great progress, which makes the resumption of negotiations logical.
The two sides also agreed on the need to continue GERD negotiations once the worldwide coronavirus pandemic has subsided.
Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia were expected to sign a draft for the final agreement in February in Washington on the filling and operation of the dam. Ethiopia, however, did not attend the meeting, whilst Egypt was the only side to sign the agreement in initials.
Early March, Sudan had expressed “reservations” over a draft resolution proposed to the Arab League by Egypt in support of both Egypt and Sudan in the dispute over the Ethiopia dam on the Blue Nile.
