Ethiopia dam should not affect Egypt's water quota or politically manipulated

New Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said the Ethiopia dam file is governed by several perspectives, topped by maintaining Egypt's quota of the River Nile water and avoiding political manipulation of the facility.

He said the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has also to serve development in Egypt in the coming period.

Ethiopia is the source of around 85% of Egypt's Nile's water mainly through rainfall in its highlands. Over 90% of Egyptians rely on water from the Nile's flows. Egypt's quota of Nile water stands at 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water per year.

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have signed the Declaration of Principles concerning the dam's establishment.

Under the declaration, the three countries formed a tripartite technical committee, but this committee has recently been stumbled by the withdrawal of the Dutch consultancy office which was planned to carry out studies of the dam.

In August, the committee has previously agreed to give 70 percent of the research workload to the French consultancy firm, while the other 30 percent was given to the Dutch firm.

The two foreign consultancy firms were supposed to reach an agreement and deliver their reports 5 September to a committee of representatives and experts from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan.
Source: MENA