The meeting was held in Washington, D.C. on January 13-15, 2020 in the presence of Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Water Resources of Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt. Egypt proposal stressed the natural flow on the Blue Nile River must not be compromised and obliges Ethiopia to compensate the cumulative deficit for the water it uses for dam filling. Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), announced in 2011, is designed to be the centerpiece of the country’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter, generating more than 6,000 megawatts. Following construction delays, Ethiopia has said GERD will start power production by the end of 2020 and be fully operational by 2022. Egypt which gets around 90% of its fresh water from the Nile, considers the project as an existential threat.

Source: Ethiopian News January 16, 2020 12:16 UTC