Ethiopia hold trilateral talks with downstream countries

Ethiopia has chosen Khartoum as a venue for talks with Sudan and Egypt on the Renaissance Dam.
The date of the meeting is yet to be set after an agreement is reached at the level of ministers.
Addis Ababa said it chose Khartoum because the Sudanese capital has a record of successful management of negotiations.
Ethiopian Minister of Water and Energy Alemayehu Tegenu told a Sudanese media delegation that his country categorically rejects any foreign funding, even if it is from the World Bank.
The Ethiopian people will offer the finances needed to complete the project, he stressed.
Alemayehu said it is important to be optimistic about the project, but he still admitted that as any other, the Renaissance Dam will of course have its negative consequences. In this case the negative consequences are little, he noted.
The minister said Ethiopia does not expect any escalations on the part of Egypt regarding the controversial dam.
He said the presidents of Egypt and Ethiopia stressed during their recent meeting in Equatorial Guinea that the issue should be settled through dialogue.