Ethiopia hails new section in disputed Blue Nile dam mission
Ethiopia says it has completed filling a reservoir for its controversial hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile river – a mission which as soon as prompted Egyptian politicians to debate army motion.
Construction of the $4bn (£3.2bn) Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam started in 2011 and Ethiopia sees the mission as essential to powering its financial growth.
“Our national perseverance against all odds has delivered,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s workplace wrote on X, previously often known as Twitter.
The Blue Nile originates in Ethiopia and flows for round 900 miles via the nation. It is one in all two main tributaries of the well-known River Nile.
It’s anticipated that the dam shall be able to producing greater than 6,000 megawatts, and Ethiopia sees it because the centrepiece of its bid to change into Africa’s greatest energy exporter.
Egypt and Sudan, nevertheless, contemplate the mission a critical risk to their important water provides.
The three international locations have been in protracted negotiations over the mission.
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In an indication of a possible breakthrough in July, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi and his Ethiopian counterpart agreed on plans to finalise an settlement between the three international locations on the filling of the dam and the principles for its operation.
But on Sunday Egypt’s international ministry stated Ethiopia’s step “places a burden on the course of the resumed negotiations, the next round of which… is hoped will witness a tangible and real breakthrough”.
Egypt, via with the Nile passes, had as soon as thought of army motion over the upriver dam in Ethiopia
The controversy over the dam has been rumbling on for greater than a decade.
In 2013, Egyptian politicians were caught on camera discussing whether to destroy the dam which, they stated, might threaten Egypt’s existence.
Then president Mohammed Morsi’s international coverage adviser Essam Al Haddad referred to as it “a matter of life for Egypt”.