By Dawit EndeshawADDIS ABABA (Reuters) -Ethiopia began producing electricity on Sunday from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a multi-billion-dollar hydropower plant on the River Nile that neighbours Sudan and Egypt have worried will cause water shortages downstream. Abiy's government says the project is key to its economic development, but Egypt and Sudan depend on the waters of the Nile and have worried it will affect them. The first violations of the initial agreement related to the filling of the dam, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The government has so far invested more than 100 billion Ethiopian birr ($1.98 billion) in the project, state-affiliated FANA broadcaster reported. ($1 = 50.6000 birr)(Additional reporting by Moataz Mohamed in CairoWriting by Duncan MiririEditing by Frances Kerry)

Source: Ethiopian News February 20, 2022 12:04 UTC