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Ethiopia prepared to discuss Al-Nahdah Dam with Egypt

February 8, 2014 at 2:33 pm

Ethiopia announced on Wednesday that it is ready to discuss the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam with Egypt, noting that Egypt’s portion of water would not be affected.

The Ethiopian Minister of Water and Energy, Olmito Tejano, said: “There is no reason for Egypt to worry about building the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam”. He added that his country has no plan to harm downstream countries, either Sudan or Egypt.


“We are ready to discuss any issue with them if they think there are some issues to be discussed,” Tejano said.

Regarding the tripartite committee with experts from Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia, the minister said: “The report about the construction of the dam keeps up with international standards, and will not significantly affect the downstream countries.”

The Ethiopian minister said: “Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile last Tuesday, three days before the release of the report. That was based on a pre-planned timetable and it was not connected to the report. It was just aimed at stopping the river’s stream in order to facilitate the construction of the dam.”

Last Saturday, the tripartite committee delivered its final report on the Dam to the governments of the three countries concerned; Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.

In a statement, the committee said that it was waiting for a response and evaluation from each of the three countries regarding the report.