Ethiopia is preparing to officially launch the fourth filling of its mega-dam reservoir on the Blue Nile, the Ethiopian deputy prime minister announced Thursday, despite opposition from its downstream neighbour Egypt and Sudan who are highly dependent on the Nile
The massive $4.2 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been at the centre of a regional disagreement ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011.
Egypt and at times Sudan have repeatedly asked Addis Ababa to stop filling the reservoir, urging this could reduce water levels dramatically
The GERD is now approaching its fourth filling. The last three fillings have not affected lower riparian states. Likewise, the rest of the fillings will not be any different,” said Demeke Mekonnen, who also serves as foreign minister.
“The project is near completion, withstanding the rhetoric of some actors that seek to monopolise the use of the shared African river,” he said, opening a conference on the Nile in Addis Ababa.
The meeting includes a “high-level ministerial round table”, with Demeke and his foreign minister counterparts from some Nile Basin nations such as Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Tanzania participating.
But now neighbouring countries Sudan and Egypt, the two countries located downstream of the Ethiopian dam, are represented.
Khartoum and Cairo have previously cited it as a threat because of their dependence on Nile waters, while Ethiopia deems it essential for its electrification and development.
While Egypt, which depends on the Nile for around 97 per cent of its irrigation needs, insists that the dam poses an “existential” threat, Khartoum’s position has fluctuated.
Kamukama Rukundo Clinton is a Ugandan freelance journalist, book author, and columnist for 1cananews who can be contacted via WhatsApp at +25670439540 and rukundopeter33@gmail.com
