Ethiopian Leader Insists Dam won’t Stop

{{Ethiopia will neither stop nor downsize its under-construction $4.2 billion dam, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, has said.}}

The declaration comes only two weeks after Foreign ministers of Egypt and Ethiopia agreed to resolve their dispute over the construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

“Ethiopia will neither stop the construction of the dam nor downsize it,” said Mr Hailemariam, during his first press conference for local media since succeeding Meles Zenawi.

Ethiopia and Egypt were at loggerheads over the construction of the 6,000 mega watts hydropower dam, until their Foreign ministers eased the tension at a meeting in Addis Ababa on June 18.

In a press conference that followed the meeting, the countries agreed to immediately start negotiations involving the other lower stream country, Sudan.

During the meeting, Egyptian Foreign minister Mohamed Kamel Amr, expressed his country’s concerns regarding the possible effects of the dam on Egypt’s water ratio.

The Ethiopian counterpart, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, indicated that the dam was being built in a way that addressed Egypt’s water security concerns.

Both ministers agreed to take into account the developmental interests of Ethiopia as well as the water security concerns of downstream countries.

The question is, what does Egypt expect from the negotiations if Ethiopia refuses to stop the construction or downsize the dam, which is estimated to earn the country 2 million Euros daily from power export when fully operational.

{NMG}