Water ministers of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia discuss outcome of Renaissance Dam visit

The water ministers of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia started their meeting Monday in Addis Ababa to assess the outcome of their visit yesterday to the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.
They will also asses the outcome of the meeting of the 12-member water experts committee from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, according to a statement by Egypt's Irrigation and Water Resources Ministry.
Talking about yesterday's visit to the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Egypt's Irrigation Minister Hossam Moghazi said that his visit to the dam was very important, adding that the visit was for technical advisory reasons and not political.
He further said that it was the first time for Egyptian experts to see the construction site of the dam in reality.
He added that it is impossible to store water in the dam before two years.
The Egyptian experts received today the designs of the dam during the delegation's visit, he said.
Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy Alamayo Nugnu, for his part, welcomed the visit of the Egyptian minister to the dam.
The visit was an opportunity for the Egyptian side to see the Ethiopian dam and listen to the explanations from engineers, he added.
Ethiopia is building a $6.4-billion dam on the Blue Nile, which represents Egypt's primary source of water.
The project has raised alarm bells in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country, which fears a reduction of its historical share of Nile water.