Ethiopia: We built 78% of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam . and will continue filling soon

In a new challenge to Egypt and Sudan, the Ethiopian Minister of Water and Irrigation, Selchi Bakli, confirmed, today, Friday, that Addis Ababa is not concerned with the failure to reach an agreement on the Renaissance Dam, confirming that more than 78% of the dam has been built.

The Ethiopian minister said that his country is not concerned with the failure of the parties to reach an agreement on the dam during the past 7 rounds of negotiations that were sponsored by the African Union, pointing to the progress of construction work by 4.05% within six months.

He also explained during a press conference that the engineering work in building the dam reached 91%, while the total construction rate was 78.3%.

The second stage of filling

He confirmed that Ethiopia will start the second filling process of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam lake during the next few months.

And Ethiopia ignored successive Egyptian and Sudanese warnings of the need to reach an agreement on the Renaissance Dam, as the Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy repeatedly stated that the construction of the dam is proceeding as planned.

Failed after failed

It is noteworthy that on January 10, the Sudanese News Agency reported that a six-party meeting between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Irrigation in Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia failed to reach an acceptable formula to continue negotiations.

Since 2011, this dam, which Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, has become a source of intense tension between Addis Ababa on the one hand and Cairo and Khartoum on the other hand. This dam is expected to become the largest water-based electric power plant in Africa.

The three countries are negotiating to reach an agreement on filling and operating the dam, but despite the passage of about 10 years, they have not yet been able to reach an agreement.

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