Egypt is on board with a proposal to form an international quartet to mediate stalled negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Aty told Congolese African Union delegation coordinator Alphonse Ntumba in separate meetings yesterday. The proposal, which had been put forward by Sudan, would see the AU, European Union, United Nations, and US play a role in mediating an agreement on GERD.

Background: Negotiations have floundered since last year after Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan were unable to agree on a timeline for the filling and operation of the dam. Sudan walked away from trilateral virtual talks last month that were meant to agree on a format for continued negotiations, insisting on an expanded role for the AU, and calling the talks “useless.”