Egypt, Sudan push for binding GERD agreement as fresh talks get underway: Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan resumed yesterday African Union-sponsored talks to resolve the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) deadlock. A meeting between the three countries’ irrigation ministers, an AU representative, and AU chair South Africa’s foreign minister took place yesterday, Ethiopian Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele said on Twitter. The three countries’ irrigation ministers, an AU representative, and AU Chair South Africa’s foreign minister will sit down again for more talks on Tuesday in hopes of reaching an expedited agreement over the filling and operation of GERD. The resumption takes place a week following agreement to suspend talks after Khartoum threatened to boycott the negotiations due to Ethiopia’s refusal to commit to a timetable for filling the dam’s reservoir. Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok had renewed their two countries’ calls for a binding agreement on the dam over the weekend.

Egypt’s ceramics, sanitary ware exports drop in 1H2020: Egypt exported USD 53 mn-worth of ceramics during 1H2020, down 34% y-o-y from USD 80 mn during the same period last year, according to Al Shorouk. Sanitary ware (bathroom appliances such as sinks, bathtubs, and toilets) exports also decreased 12% y-o-y to record USD 59 mn in the first half of the year, compared to USD 67 mn in 1H2019.