Ethiopia Says 78% of GERD's Construction Completed

This morning, the Ethiopian Minister of Irrigation and Water Seleshi Bekele announced that 78% of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam (GERD)'s construction has been completed.

His remark came hours before the forthcoming tripartite meeting between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on GERD.

In a tweet, Bekele added, "The meeting, which was called by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation in South Africa and the current head of the African Union (AU), will bring together 6 ministers responsible for foreign affairs and water in the three countries."

"Observers and experts in charge of the AU are expected to attend," he added.

The three countries have held several rounds of talks since Ethiopia began implementing the project in 2011, yet they failed to reach an agreement on the filling and operation of the vast reservoir behind the 145-meter (475-foot) tall dam.

The last round of negotiations, held by videoconference, ended in early November, without progress.

The official Sudanese News Agency (SUNA) stated that officials from South Africa, which currently holds the African Union (AU) presidency, will participate in the new round of talks.

SUNA added that Sudan would propose giving AU experts a “greater role” in negotiations to reach a binding agreement on filling and operating the GERD.

The European Union (EU), an observer of the GERD negotiations, welcomed the upcoming talks, stressing that they provide an “important opportunity for progress” toward reaching an agreement.

Ethiopia stresses that the hydroelectric power produced at the dam is necessary to meet the energy needs of its population of more than 100 million people.

It insists that downstream water supplies will not be affected.

Sudan, which suffered severe floods last summer when the Blue Nile reached its highest level, hopes the new dam will help regulate the river’s flow.

The Blue Nile, which meets the White Nile in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, provides the vast majority of the Nile’s water that flows through northern Sudan and Egypt to the Mediterranean.