Egypt Calls on Ethiopia Clarification about Reports of GERD Filling

Egypt on Wednesday called on the Ethiopian government for an official clarification about reports on the beginning of the filling process of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The statement pointed out that Cairo follows up the developments of the situation on the media outlets.

Earlier today, Ethiopia’s Water Minister Seleshi Bekele denied reports that the government had begun filling a massive hydroelectric dam.

Media outlets reported that Ethiopia had begun filling after Bekele confirmed to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that satellite images from recent days showed the dam’s reservoir swelling.

In statements to the Associated Press, the Ethiopian minister attributed the large quantities of water, shown in the images, to heavy rains, saying that inflow was greater than the outflow.