African leaders to attend signing of Renaissance Dam agreement in Khartoum
March 14, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s foreign minister Ali Karti said that presidents of Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt will attend the signing ceremony of the agreement on the Renaissance Dam in Khartoum on 23 March.
Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt, Abdel-Mahmood Abdel-Haleem, stressed that invitation has been extended to the Egyptian president, Abdel-Fatah al-Sissi, and the Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, to take part in the signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement on Renaissance Dam.
He pointed in a statement on Saturday that Nile Basin and friendly countries will also be invited to participate in the signing ceremony in Khartoum on March 23.
The Middle East news agency quoted Karti on Saturday as saying Khartoum’s tripartite summit will see the signing of the Renaissance Dam agreement, describing the deal as “historic”.
He added that foreign affairs and water resources ministers of the three countries will take part in the summit, pointing that Sudan will invite several neighbouring and friendly countries to attend the occasion.
The three countries formed a committee to select a consultancy firm to assess the likely impact of the Renaissance Dam project on Sudan and Egypt. Four consultancy firms from France, Australia and Holland had earlier been shortlisted and invited to submit their proposals.
Ethiopia and Egypt have been locked in talks over the potential ramifications of building the dam on the Nile’s upper reaches.
Egypt fears the dam will negatively affect its traditional share of water from the Nile, its only source of water.
Ethiopia, for its part, says the project is indispensable to its own national development and the economic welfare of its burgeoning population.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese foreign minister said that Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) has achieved its objectives, pointing that president Bashir underscored in his remarks at the conference that Sudan’s doors will remain open to investment and cooperation with Egypt.
Bashir returned to Khartoum on Saturday following a two-day visit to Egypt in which he took part in Egypt’s EEDC.
The Sudanese president discussed with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel-Fattah Al-Sissi, on the sidelines of the EEDC, ways for advancing economic and investment projects in the area of food security besides utilizing border crossings between the two countries.
(ST)