Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia sign contracts to conduct studies on Nile dam

Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia on Tuesday signed contracts with two consultancy offices to conduct technical studies on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

"It is an event that we are witnessing today after long path that we have been through to achieve this stage," Egypt's Minister of Water Resources Mohamed Abdel-Ati said when addressing the signing ceremony of the contract in Khartoum Tuesday.

"We have bigger dreams of regional integration. Our objectives are to generate electricity and to reduce power blackout in all the countries," he noted.

Mutaz Mussa, Sudan's Water Resources and Electricity Minister, for his part, said "I'm confident that our three countries have the necessary expertise to support, validate and approve the two studies report in a joint effort with the consultant."

Motuma Bedassa, Ethiopia's Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, addressing the ceremony, said "many prior studies have indicators that the GERD can be filled and operated without causing any significant harm to any of the three eastern Nile countries."

The Tripartite National Committee (TNC) should engage in complete harmony and good faith in order to ensure sustainable cooperation of the three countries in the management of trans-boundary water resources in the eastern Nile, he noted.

He said that there is no room for competition or exerting unnecessary effort in outsmarting each other in the work of the TNC during the conduct of the two studies.

Bedassa further noted that it is also very important to focus on the technical aspects of the studies and not to engage in the hydro politics aspects which may will divert the TNC attention into unwanted directions.

In September 2014, local expert committees from Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia recommended conducting two more studies on the GERD.

The first proposed test was on the dam's impact on the water shares of Egypt and Sudan, and the second on the anticipated environmental, economic and social impact on the two countries.

The GERD worries Egypt which fears that the construction of the dam would affect its share of the Nile water, which amounts to 55.5 billion cubic meters, while Ethiopia reiterates that the dam is likely to make a shift in its wealth, namely in the field of electricity.

The GERD, extending on an area of 1,800 square kilometers, is scheduled to be completed in three years at a cost of 4.7 billion U.S. dollars.

Source:  XINHUA