A preliminary report has found that Ethiopian engineer Simegnew Bekele - who was in charge of the country's $4.7bn (£3.1bn) hydroelectric dam project - took his own life, state linked Fana Broadcasting Corporate reports. Engineer Simegnew had been manager of Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) since the launch of the project in 2011. The dam, which is being built in the Benishangul-Gumuz region bordering Sudan, will eventually have a 6,000 megawatt capacity, according to the Ethiopian government. It will use water from the Blue Nile - one of two major tributaries of the Nile. Egypt opposes the dam saying it violates a colonial-era agreement, which gives them rights to 90% of the Nile's water.

Source: Ethiopian News September 07, 2018 09:56 UTC