This visit apparently was delayed for about a month as it was supposed to be held during December according to several previous statements.In November, the Ethiopian Ambassador to Egypt Eyi Athacaslasi Amedi announced that Desalegn will deliver a speech in the Egyptian Parliament during his visit to Egypt.During a meeting between Amedi and the chairman of the African Affairs Committee in the Egyptian Parliament Tarek Radwan, Amedi said that the visit aims to discuss cooperation between the Ethiopian and Egyptian parliaments.The ambassador also stressed that Ethiopia is keen to continue negotiations with Egypt concerning the Dam project. "Ethiopia is keen to resume negotiations with Egypt and to continue the construction of the Renaissance Dam while taking into account the dam's significantly harmful effect on Egypt’s share of the Nile water," he stated. The $4 billion dam is being constructed on the Blue Nile with a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters, and is expected to generate up to 6,000 megawatts of power.Since May 2011, Cairo has voiced its concern over how the dam can reduce the country’s annual share of more than 56 billion cubic meters of Nile water. Egypt’s average water per-capita is expected to drop from 663 cubic meters per year to 582 cubic meters by 2025, according to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). Addis Ababa, however, claimed that the dam is necessary for Ethiopia’s development and will not harm downstream countries.

Source: Ethiopian News December 25, 2017 10:30 UTC