Cairo, Oct. 6 (Xinhua/UNB) -- The recent negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) being built on the Nile River reached a "dead end," spokesman for Egypt's Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mohamed Sibai, said on Saturday. Ethiopia also refused, according to the spokesman, to discuss the rules of operation of the dam. Ethiopia started building the dam in 2011 and it is expected to produce over 6,000 megawatts of electricity and to be Africa's largest hydropower dam upon completion. Egypt, a downstream Nile Basin country, is concerned that the construction of the GERD might affect its 55.5-billion-cubic-meter annual share of the river water. Meanwhile, upstream Ethiopia and downstream Sudan eye massive future benefits through the dam.

Source: Ethiopian News October 06, 2019 04:41 UTC