Egypt, Ethiopia agree to reach deal on Nile River dam in four months

Ethiopia and Egypt have said they aim to finalise within four months an agreement on the operations of Africa's largest dam, an apparent breakthrough in a dispute that Cairo has described as an existential threat.

The joint statement on "expedited negotiations," issued by Ethiopia's government on Thursday, came after Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed discussed the dam with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el Sisi on the sidelines of a regional meeting about the conflict in neighbouring Sudan.

Sudan is a third party to the talks about the $4.6 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam [GERD] on Ethiopia's stretch of the Blue Nile, which is located just 10 kilometres from the Sudanese border.

Egypt depends on the Nile River to supply its booming population of over 105 million with fresh water, while Ethiopia says the dam helps to pull millions of its over 115 million citizens out of poverty.

Tensions rose as the dam's reservoir began to be filled annually in the past few years.

The new statement does not describe the foreseen agreement as a legally binding one, which Egypt and Sudan have sought.

It also doesn't say whether the talks will be under the auspices of the African Union, which Ethiopia has preferred.

The United States has been among a variety of mediators in the past.

In a separate statement, the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, commended the Ethiopian and Egyptian leaders for their "joint decision" to reinitiate the negotiations on the dam.

Water scarcity in Egypt

Sudan was not involved in the talks between Sisi and Abiy, but former rebel leader Mubarak Ardol — considered a close ally of the Sudanese army — later tweeted his support for the preliminary agreement on the dam.

"Although we are absent but our full support to this bilateral statement on GERD, Sudan for sure will join soon to make it trilateral agreement without outside mediators," he wrote.

Key questions in the talks have been how the countries will resolve any future disputes around the dam and how much water Ethiopia will release downstream if a multi-year drought occurs.

Egypt continues to reel under the water problems.

In 2007, the water scarcity in the country resulted in the "Revolution of the Thirsty" protests.

By 2025, Egypt is projected to become completely water-scarce.