Redwan Holds Talks with Ambassadors of Nile Basin’s Upstream Riparian States
ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs Redwan Hussein has today held discussion with Ambassadors of the Upstream Riparian States of the Nile Basin in Ethiopia.
In the meeting, Redwan reiterated Ethiopia’s longstanding and unwavering commitment to having a fair and equitable utilization of the waters of the Nile River with close consultations with riparian countries.
In this regard, he appreciated the riparian countries that have signed and ratified the Comprehensive Framework Agreement (CFA) and called on others to follow suit.
Ambassador Redwan said the agreement could benefit all the riparian countries although Egypt and Sudan chose to walk out from the Agreement.
The CFA, also known as the Entebbe Agreement, is a deal among the Nile River Basin States for equitable and reasonable utilization of the Nile River.
The arrangement replaces the colonial negotiated legal regimes that favour the lower riparian states of Sudan and Egypt over the use of the river Nile
It has so far been by a majority (6) of the 10 Nile Basin Initiative states, including Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi. South Sudan recently announced its intention to sign it.
Egypt and Sudan reject the agreement.
In Tuesday’s discussion, Redwan also briefed the ambassadors about the current collusion of Tunisia with Egypt in the security council to scuttle African Union-led negotiation.
The ambassadors, on their part, said that cooperation is needed to jointly invest in cross-border resources and solve African problems through African initiatives, according to the statement issued by the ministry of foreign affairs.
Ambassador Redwan recalled Tunisia’s proposal which was submitted to the Security Council in support of Egypt and that was rightly rejected by the Council.
In this regard, the meeting noted that Tunisia’s ongoing preparation to submit its inappropriate request again to the Security Council would put all riparian countries in a difficult position that necessitates cooperation to reverse it.
Such an unhelpful move by an African state would only undermine the tripartite negotiation over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and the upper riparian states should never accept it, Ambassador Redwan concluded.
