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The latest attempt by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to negotiate a resolution to their decade-long dispute over Addis Ababa’s controversial dam project on the Nile River’s largest tributary failed this week, bringing the region closer to a crisis.
Tensions were already high heading into the meetings in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, with Egyptian officials warning that it was the last chance to reach an agreement before Ethiopia takes advantage of the upcoming summer rainy season to start filling the dam for the second year in a row. Egypt has warned that the dam could harm its water supply, more than 90 percent of which comes from the Nile, while Sudan worries its own downstream dams will be affected. But Ethiopia argues the $5 billion project is necessary for electricity generation.