Resolving the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Conflict Through the African Union Nexus Approach

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have been negotiating for nearly a decade to reach an agreement on key technical and legal issues related to the impact of the GERD. Some of the major milestones in the negotiation process are: the formation of the International Panel of Experts, Declaration of Principles, formation of a Joint Research Group, involvement of the USA and the World Bank to observe tripartite talks and the request by Egypt to the United Nations Security Council to intervene. The outstanding issues to be resolved include: drought mitigation, binding agreement, dam safety and dispute resolution. African Union (AU) has been approached to intervene in the dispute. The involvement of AU provides an opportunity for the continental peace architectural framework through three ways: the Assembly of Heads of state and government which is the AU’s supreme policy and decision-making organ, the AU Peace and Security Council (APSC) which is the pinnacle of the AU architecture framework of conflict prevention, management and resolution and the involvement of COMESA which is the largest Regional Economic Community of the African Union aimed at promoting regional integration through trade and the development of natural and human resources. The main purpose of the chapter is to analyse how the AU peace building frameworks can be used to resolve the GERD dispute. The chapter will explain how the AU frameworks can be used to promote integrated and sustainable management outcomes and the significant steps of dispute resolution mechanisms that can be taken through the AU framework.