A senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs downplayed Egypt’s recent campaign against the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam – under construction in western Ethiopia.

About a week ago, Al-Monitor reported that “Cairo has begun a diplomatic campaign on two tracks, one explicit and one undeclared, with European countries and donor parties.”

Al-Monitor quoted “a diplomatic source in contact with the Egyptian government” as saying that:

“The campaign initiated by Egypt is on two tracks, one that is explicit and involves meetings by Egypt’s ministers of water and foreign relations with their counterparts in countries with influence in the Nile Basin, and one that is undeclared and involves meetings by Egypt’s ambassadors in these countries. The two tracks aim to persuade the international community to reject the dam’s construction because it may lead to further conflict and instability in the region of the Nile Basin.”

The position was reiterated by an Egyptian official at the Ministry of International Cooperation, Ambassador Gamal Bayoumi. Al-Monitor quoted him as saying that:

“Egypt’s moves now target all countries that provide technical assistance for designing and building the Renaissance Dam through private contractors and also the states likely to fund the construction of the dam……we are trying, as much as possible, to attract Ethiopia to talk and negotiate. But [Ethiopia] is being stubborn.”

However, a senior official at Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs snubbed it as an “exercise in futility”.

The official, who chose not to be named for fear of triggering a media tit-for-tat, told Horn Affairs that:

“We know what they are trying to do, we are following it closely. And they know that we know. In fact, we have told them clearly that it is an exercise in futility.

Their diplomatic campaign worked in the past with regard to access to international finance. The time has changed. We are financing the Renaissance dam project from our treasury. So, their lobbying is almost pointless….

They should better focus their energy to where they can make a difference: That is; dialogue with Ethiopia, Sudan and the rest of Nile basin countries.

Trying to twist our hands through international lobby is unlikely to bear fruits. In fact, the international community understands our position and appreciates the maturity we have shown in the process.”

It is to be recalled that Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn downplayed the suggestion that Egypt might try to take the issue to “internationalize” the matter.

In a press conference last month, the PM noted that:

“If [internationalizing] means taking a legal venue, there is no international court with the mandate to adjudicate this issue to my knowledge. If it is politically, we will respond accordingly”.

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Daniel Berhane

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