The higher committee on Nile waters, headed by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, held a meeting on Tuesday to review outcomes of a meeting in Khartoum and discuss next steps regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Last week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry headed to Khartoum to attend a meeting with Sudanese and Ethiopian foreign and irrigation ministers, as well as heads of intelligence agencies. During a cabinet meeting, Shoukry reviewed the details of the meeting on the construction of the GERD and Cairo's proposals to implement what was agreed upon. He further presented his assessment over the outcome of the Khartoum meeting and the perspectives on the future course of the negotiations, as well as ongoing contacts with all parties to determine the date and venue of the next meeting that will be scheduled this month. Khartoum's meeting comes in light of the previous agreement between the presidents of Egypt and Sudan and the former Ethiopian prime minister, during their meeting on the sidelines of the 30th African Union (AU) Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Following the meeting, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said that the three countries speak in unison regarding the GERD, in a voice of mutual interest. The GERD, formerly known as the Millennium Dam, is under construction in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia, on the Blue Nile River. Construction of the Dam started in April 2011. However, Egypt has expressed concerns that the construction of the GERD could negatively affect its historic Nile water share of 55bn sqm, which it has had access to since a 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan.
