Egypt Says Ethiopia Remains Committed Not to Harm its Nile Water Share

Ahram Online
Sunday 29 May 2016

For several years, Egypt has raised fears that Ethiopia's $4.2 billion Grand Renaissance Dam will negatively affect its Nile water share

Egypt's foreign ministry has underlined that Ethiopian officials repeatedly deny being indifferent towards any damage that could result from construction of the country's Grand Renaissance Dam.

Ethiopia's communications minister, Getachew Reda, was quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper Friday as saying that the Grand Renaissance Dam has become a "reality" and that "no matter what happens, things will not change."

Reda stated that “Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt have agreed on the technical committees. Furthermore, we haven’t promised to stop construction work pending the completion of technical studies.”

Egypt's foreign ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement on Sunday that the communications office of the Ethiopian council of ministers highlighted that Ethiopia is committed to the declaration of principles on the building of the Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile.

"The Egyptian embassy in Addis Ababa has directly contacted Ethiopian officials to verify the accuracy of the statements ... Ethiopian officials stressed they are committed not to harming Egypt's water share," the statement read.

The declaration of principles signed by Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on 25 March was a step towards putting an end to a four-year dispute over Nile water sharing arrangements among Nile Basin countries. Ten principles are outlined in the document signed by the three countries.

For several years, Egypt has raised fears over Ethiopia's construction of the $4.2 billion Grand Renaissance Dam, saying it would negatively affect its Nile water share.

The 6,000 megawatt Ethiopian dam, set to be Africa's largest, is expected to be completed by 2017. Ethiopia has finished constructing at least 70 percent of the dam.

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