Ethiopia says it has completed filling a reservoir for its controversial hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile river – a mission which as soon as prompted Egyptian politicians to debate navy motion.
Development of the $4bn (£3.2bn) Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam started in 2011 and Ethiopia sees the mission as essential to powering its financial growth.
“Our nationwide perseverance in opposition to all odds has delivered,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s workplace wrote on X, previously referred to as Twitter.
The Blue Nile originates in Ethiopia and flows for round 900 miles via the nation. It’s one in all two main tributaries of the well-known River Nile.
It is anticipated that the dam will probably be able to producing greater than 6,000 megawatts, and Ethiopia sees it because the centrepiece of its bid to grow to be Africa’s greatest energy exporter.
Egypt and Sudan, nonetheless, think about the mission a critical menace to their important water provides.
The three international locations have been in protracted negotiations over the mission.
Learn extra on Sky Information:
Two tankers collide in Suez Canal disrupting traffic
Inside refugee camps as thousands flee Sudan
In an indication of a possible breakthrough in July, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi and his Ethiopian counterpart agreed on plans to finalise an settlement between the three international locations on the filling of the dam and the foundations for its operation.
However on Sunday Egypt’s international ministry mentioned Ethiopia’s step “locations a burden on the course of the resumed negotiations, the following spherical of which… is hoped will witness a tangible and actual breakthrough”.
The controversy over the dam has been rumbling on for greater than a decade.
In 2013, Egyptian politicians were caught on camera discussing whether to destroy the dam which, they mentioned, may threaten Egypt’s existence.
Then president Mohammed Morsi’s international coverage adviser Essam Al Haddad known as it “a matter of life for Egypt”.