Amid an ongoing standoff over a multi-billion dollar dam project on the Nile river, Egypt proposed for Sudan's exclusion from the negotiations and to proceed with Ethiopia only, while getting the World Bank involved to resolve the conflict, according to an Ethiopian newspaper, Addis Fortune.
The Construction of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the largest hydroelectric dam project in Africa, has poisoned relations between Egypt, Eritrea and Sudan. The dispute centers on control of a share of the waters of the Nile that stretches 6,695 km (4,184 miles) from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean and is the economic lifeblood of all three countries.
Cairo says the dam would threaten water supplies that have fed Egypt's agriculture and economy for thousands of years. Cairo fears the 6,000-megawatt dam will reduce the flow it depends on for drinking water and irrigation. Egyptian officials say safeguarding the country's quota of Nile water is a matter of national security.
Ethiopia says the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD), which it hopes will help make it Africa's largest power exporter, will have no major effect on Egypt. It accuses Cairo of flexing its political muscle to deter financiers from backing other Ethiopian power projects.
Delegations from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia met in Cairo in November to approve a study by a French firm commissioned to assess the dam's environmental and economic impact. But negotiations stalled when they failed to agree on the initial report with each blaming others for blocking progress.