Egypt, Ethiopia at odds over dam built on the Nile

CAIRO: Egypt and Ethiopia have reached a deadlock in further studies on the effects of the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam (Gerd) on downstream countries.

This information was conveyed by Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday.

The Egyptian foreign minister outlined the “strained technical path related to preparing studies on the effect of the dam on downstream countries, and ways to avoid them” and outlined Cairo’s dependence on the Nile as its sole source of water.

Negotiations on how to conduct technical studies of the dam’s potential impact on downstream countries, between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, broke down last week.

The dam, near Ethiopia’s border with Sudan, is scheduled for completion this year and expected to generate 6 000 megawatts of electricity.

Ethiopia wants to export electricity generated by the dam which will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa. However, Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh el-Sisi is con- cerned that the dam would eat into Egypt’s share of Nile water which the Egyptians describe as “a matter of life and death for the nation”.

Addis Ababa disputes this saying that the dam will not have any negative impact on Egypt or Sudan.

Almost all of Egypt’s 96 million plus people live near the Nile and farmers depend on it. – ANA