The US State Department announced on Friday that Washington may decouple a pause in aid to Ethiopia with work on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the largest and most controversial hydropower project in Africa. “We continue to support collaborative and constructive efforts by Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to reach an agreement on the GERD,” Price said, reports Reuters. Ethiopia began filling the dam’s reservoir last year, despite demands from Egypt and Sudan that it first reach a definitive agreement on the dam’s operation. Meanwhile, Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia’s minister for water, said that the dam was now 78% complete, and would be operational by its revised deadline of 2023. Work on the GERD, which is being managed by Italian contractor Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo) has been underway since 2011.

Source: Ethiopian News February 22, 2021 13:30 UTC