Sudan will return to negotiations with Egypt and Ethiopia on a Nile dam Addis Ababa is building but only if its demand for a greater role for African Union water experts is met, the country’s water minister said.
Sudan boycotted ministerial talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, or Gerd, on Monday to protest against what it said was lack of response to its request for a bilateral meeting with the AU experts. Its boycott came a day after the talks resumed following a month-long break.
The foreign and water ministers of the three nations are scheduled to return on Sunday to the AU-sponsored negotiations, which have been held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Addressing a news conference in the Sudanese capital Khartoum late on Thursday, Sudan’s irrigation and water minister Yasser Abbas said his country was not prepared to be part of “indefinite” negotiations that don’t yield “valuable” results and solutions.
He said failure to grant Sudan a separate meeting between its delegates and the AU experts constituted a breach of what had been agreed between the three nations and South Africa, which represents the pan-African organisation in its capacity as the current chairman.
Instead of a bilateral meeting with the experts, Mr Abbas said, Sudan received an invitation for a plenary meeting bringing together delegates from Egypt, Ethiopia and the AU specialists.
“This does not just waste time, it also contributes to widening the gap between the parties involved,” Mr Abbas said of the AU invitation to hold tripartite meetings, which were abandoned when Sudan decided on January 4 to boycott the process.
“Sudan is waiting for a schedule of [bilateral] meetings between the three nations and the experts before the January 10 meeting. We remain committed to the negotiations under AU sponsorship once the mechanism is altered to give a bigger role to the experts.”
Sudan believes that involving the experts more in the negotiations will produce technical recommendations that could narrow the gap between the three nations on outstanding issues such as three-way co-ordination on the running of the dam and managing future droughts.
The almost completed hydroelectric dam is viewed as an existential threat by Egypt which, together with fellow downstream nation Sudan, have been trying for a decade to persuade Ethiopia to enter a legally-binding deal that would also apply to future dams Addis Ababa says it intends to build farther upstream.
The Nile provides more than 90 per cent of Egypt’s water needs. It fears that a significant drop in its share of the river’s water as a result of the dam would mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and the disruption of its sensitive food supply.
For Sudan, the absence of co-ordination on the operation of the dam built a short distance away from its border could potentially spell disaster for its eastern breadbasket region through flooding and the disablement of its own hydroelectric dams on the Nile.
There was no immediate reaction to the Sudanese minister's comments from Cairo or Addis Ababa.
Mr Abbas repeated his country’s concerns over the dam, which will be the largest such structure in Africa and generate about 6,000 megawatts when completed. Ethiopia says the dam will pluck millions of its citizens out of poverty, energise its economy and make the country a key exporter of electricity in Africa.
My Abbas repeated earlier warnings that Sudanese lives would be at risk if Ethiopia went ahead with a second filling of the dam's reservoir without first reaching an agreement on the project’s operation. He said the second filling, expected in July, would involve 13.5 billion cubic metres, nearly three times the first filling last summer. Ethiopia did not give Egypt or Sudan prior notice of the first filling, angering the two Afro-Arab nations and disrupting the operation of potable water stations in Khartoum.
Top investing tips for UAE residents in 2021
Build an emergency fund: Make sure you have enough cash to cover six months of expenses as a buffer against unexpected problems before you begin investing, advises Steve Cronin, the founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com.
Think long-term: When you invest, you need to have a long-term mindset, so don’t worry about momentary ups and downs in the stock market.
Invest worldwide: Diversify your investments globally, ideally by way of a global stock index fund.
Is your money tied up: Avoid anything where you cannot get your money back in full within a month at any time without any penalty.
Skip past the promises: “If an investment product is offering more than 10 per cent return per year, it is either extremely risky or a scam,” Mr Cronin says.
Choose plans with low fees: Make sure that any funds you buy do not charge more than 1 per cent in fees, Mr Cronin says. “If you invest by yourself, you can easily stay below this figure.” Managed funds and commissionable investments often come with higher fees.
Be sceptical about recommendations: If someone suggests an investment to you, ask if they stand to gain, advises Mr Cronin. “If they are receiving commission, they are unlikely to recommend an investment that’s best for you.”
Get financially independent: Mr Cronin advises UAE residents to pursue financial independence. Start with a Google search and improve your knowledge via expat investing websites or Facebook groups such as SimplyFI.
Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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The years Ramadan fell in May
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
