Ethiopian FM: We will not use Renaissance Dam's water for irrigation

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom said Friday his country is building the Renaissance Dam only for generating hydroelectric power, stressing that the dam will not be used in irrigation.
The water will be used to generate energy through operating turbines and then will be flowing in its natural path, the minister said in statements to comment on his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry's visit to Addis Ababa.
Adhanom stressed that the Renaissance Dam's construction would not affect the flow of water to downstream states.
"Both nature and history closely entwined Ethio-Egyptian relations. The current Ethio-Egypt ties features the strong will and determination of both countries to have a mutually beneficial cooperative partnership".
The Ethiopian minister said the dam would benefit Egypt. "The dam will produce sufficient electrical energy that we can share with Egypt, as about 6,000 megawatts will be produced, and this would be good for Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan".
Our dam will reduce the accumulation of silt, and this is what will prolong the life of Egypt's High Dam, he added.
It will also save the River Nile's water as evaporation rates will be reduced, along with controlling the flood in the downstream states, he added. "When we build a dam on the Upper Nile, both Egypt and Sudan would receive good amounts of water".
The leaderships in Egypt and Ethiopia are working to achieve mutual benefit and to reach a solution based on the gain for all, and I am very optimistic that on our part we are committed to the principle-based solution to achieve win-win and mutual benefit, he said.
Our goal is to eliminate poverty and we have no other agenda. We understand the interests of the Egyptian people, he stressed.