Sudan has condemned Ethiopia for opening their hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile on Sunday. Ethiopia built the dam without finalizing an agreement with its downstream neighbors. Sudan is calling it a “unilateral move” and a violation of international commitments.
Egypt and Sudan are countries that heavily depend on the Nile river of drinking water and irrigation for crops. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project was launched in 2011. Cairo has a historical right to the Nile, guaranteed since a treaty signed in 1929 between Egypt and Sudan. Egypt also has the right to veto any project that is conducted on the river.
A new treaty was signed in 2010 in which Egypt gave up its veto power and agreed to the use of hydroelectric dam projects and irrigation; Ethiopia did not take part in these discussions.
Egypt and Sudan, concerned about their water supply, had asked the dam company Addis Ababa to halt on filling the reservoir of the dam, but their requests were ignored. The dam once completed will be the largest on the African continent, with an estimated total cost of R63 billion.
By: Alexandria Gregson
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