Ethiopia says it has attained its second-year target for filling a mega-dam on the Blue Nile River that has stoked tensions with downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.
Water Minister Seleshi Bekele later confirmed the milestone, which officials had earlier predicted would come in August
He said the first filling already was done last year while the second one was already done today and that the second filling would be announced shortly, adding there is now enough water stored to begin producing energy.
In a post on social media he attributed the accelerated timeline to “extreme rainfall” in the Blue Nile basin.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has been at the centre of a regional dispute ever since Ethiopia broke ground on the project in 2011.
Egypt and Sudan view the dam as a threat because of their dependence on Nile waters, while Ethiopia deems it essential for its electrification and development.
Talks held under the auspices of the African Union (AU) have failed to yield a three-way agreement on the dam’s filling and operations, and Cairo and Khartoum have demanded Addis Ababa cease filling the massive reservoir until such a deal is reached.
But Ethiopian officials have argued that filling is a natural part of the dam’s construction process and cannot be stopped.
The UN Security Council met earlier this month to discuss the project, although Ethiopia later slammed the session as an “unhelpful” distraction from the AU-led process.
Egypt claims a historic right to the Nile dating from a 1929 treaty that gave it veto power over construction projects along the river.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
