KHARTOUM, 6 May, 2021 (TON): According to states news agency, Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok has stressed the importance of reaching a binding agreement regarding the Renaissance Dam, which would allow better planning for agricultural development and production.

Sudan will always be at the mercy of Ethiopia for water without an agreement, Hamdok said, as he demanded for a binding accord within the framework of international law.

The Prime Minister indicated that Sudan proposed to transform the role of observers into mediators to help reach a binding agreement on the dam.

The tensions among Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile have escalated, particularly after Ethiopia announced that it had started filling the GERD’s reservoir, an action contrary to Egypt’s mandate that the dam not be filled without a legally binding agreement over the equitable allocation of the Nile’s waters.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project is expected to be completed by July 2017. The people and Government of Ethiopia are funding the project. The latter two countries depend on the Nile River for their water although 85% of the river flows in Ethiopia.