Cairo — Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) has accomplished 40 per cent of the building process, Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome said Friday, adding that the first phase will be complete next June producing 700 megawatts.
The tripartite committee and international consultancy office are not arbitrators, Teshome added in an interview with Sky News Arabia, referring to the expert committee formed by the three Nile Basin countries to provide an advisory opinion over the building process and the harms it might cause.
The committee, which is set to resort to international advisory companies, will produce a detailed study on the dam’s effect on the flow of the Nile’s water as well as the project’s environmental, economic and social effects on Egypt and Sudan. It should conclude its report within six months, by March, and its results are to be binding for all.
The Renaissance Dam project serves the interests of both Egypt and Sudan more than Ethiopia, Teshome said, refuting the escalation of the situation into a war between Egypt and Ethiopia if talks collapse.
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