Egypt helped build several African dams: Irrigation Min.

CAIRO – 22 April 2018: The Ethiopian Renaissance Dam negotiations require patience, said Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohammed Abdel-Ati during a meeting held Saturday at the Wafd Party headquarters.

Abdel-Ati stated that Egypt has contributed to building several dams in multiple African nations, such as Owen Falls Dam in Uganda which Egypt semi-funded in 1950, Tekeze Dam in Ethiopia, and the Merowe, Jebel Aulia and Roseires dams in Sudan.

Abdel-Ati revealed that Egypt and Ethiopia had agreed on building the Renaissance Dam in 2008. However, the African Horn state announced in 2011 the building of another dam on the Blue Nile without informing Egypt.

Abdel-Ati said that Egypt has shown a positive attitude regarding the Renaissance Dam during the previous years, adding that Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia agreed on choosing a consultancy firm to provide the technical studies of the dam.

Abdel-Ati urged officials in Sudan and Ethiopia to understand Egypt’s worries regarding the state’s share of Nile water.

Egypt had invited the ministers of foreign affairs and irrigation, as well as the heads of the intelligence agencies, of Ethiopia and Sudan for another round of talks about the dam, which were scheduled to be held in Cairo on April 20; however, no response was received.