The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced on Tuesday that the rain contributed to the completion of the first stage of filling the Renaissance Dam reservoir. This came during the mini-summit organised by the African Union, which brought him together with the Egyptian General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the Sudanese Prime Minister, Aballa Hamdok. On Tuesday, Sudanese Minister of Irrigation Yasser Abbas said that Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa had agreed at the mini-African summit to continue negotiations to overcome points of contention over the Renaissance Dam.

The meeting was held under the auspices of the African Union, chaired by South African President Cyril Ramafosa, to resume negotiations on the Renaissance Dam, which Egypt and Sudan consider a threat to their vital water supplies, while Ethiopia considers it “necessary” for its development and to double its electricity production. The long rounds of negotiations, for years, between the three countries ended without reaching an agreement regarding how to fill and operate the dam reservoir in a way that does not harm the supply of water for the downstream countries.

Over the past several days, Sudan announced that a number of drinking water stations stopped working after the Nile water level decreased, for several reasons, including because the dam’s gates closed.