Egypt and Kenya presidents hold talks on Nile dam row

A meeting between Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta held on the standoff over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to Egyptian officials.

The two leaders met in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, on Sunday as President Kenyatta returned home from France.

A brief from Egypt’s spokesperson said: ‘The meeting touched on the latest regional developments of mutual interest, especially with regard to the issue of the Renaissance Dam, as it was agreed to intensify coordination between the two countries during the coming period on this sensitive and vital issue’.

Kenya did not mention the dam issue and only said that the two leaders discussed subjects of mutual interest ‘among them regional peace and security, trade and Africa’s response to Covid-19’.

Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam on the River Nile is expected to provide power to up to 65 million Ethiopians.

Egypt almost totally relies on the River Nile for its water supply and recently warned that the dam was ‘a threat of potentially existential proportions’.

Kenya is an observer in an African Union-led mediation process to resolve the stand-off.