GERD is full: Ethiopia has completed the fourth and final phase of filling the reservoir of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a social media post yesterday.

Refresher: The country started work on the USD 4 bn hydropower dam in 2011 and began unilaterally filling its reservoir three years ago, causing consternation with its downstream neighbors Egypt and Sudan, who have said the dam could endanger their water supply.

Unsurprisingly, Egypt wasn’t pleased with yesterday’s news: In a statement, the Foreign Ministry accused Addis Ababa of breaching international law and ignoring Egypt and Sudan’s rights to water security.

There had been modest signs of progress in recent months: The leaders of Egypt and Ethiopia agreed in July to finalize an agreement within four months on the filling and operation of the dam, leading to a round of talks in Cairo last week — the first to take place on GERD in two years. The meeting yielded no breakthrough, but officials agreed to gather in the Ethiopian capital for a new round of talks this month.

The filling could make an agreement harder, Foreign Ministry suggests: “[The filling process] places a burden on the course of the resumed negotiations,” the ministry said, expressing hope that this month’s talks will produce a “tangible and real breakthrough.” Dates for the next round of talks have not yet been announced.

The news is getting coverage in the foreign press: Bloomberg | Reuters | AFP | The National.

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