Ethiopia minister of water holds talks with head of Sudan

Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Seleshi Bekele yesterday discussed issues of common interest with Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan General Abdel Fattah Abdel Rahman Al-Burhan, Anadolu reported.

The two officials met on the margins of a tripartite Ethiopian, Sudanese and Egyptian meeting held in Khartoum to discuss the Renaissance Dam which on Sunday.

Officials had previously agreed to hold four meetings on the dam in Cairo, Khartoum and Addis Ababa.

The first was held in November in Addis Ababa, the second held on 2 December in Cairo, the third in Khartoum and the fourth will be held in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia is building a $5 billion dam on the Blue Nile, a tributary of the Nile River, near the border with Sudan, saying the project is necessary to provide the country with much needed electricity.

Egypt fears the dam could stem the flow of the Nile, on which it depends for around 90 percent of its water supply.

READ: Egypt attempts to gain written guarantees from Ethiopia over Renaissance Dam