Agreements on Ethiopia’s dam to be signed within 2 weeks – Minister

Within the next two weeks, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia are scheduled to sign agreements concerning Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam.
Based on technical studies to be carried out, the anticipated agreements come in response to Cairo’s fears over the dam’s potentially detrimental impact on Egypt’s water supply.

According to Egypt’s Irrigation Minister, Hossam Moghazi, two French consultancy firms will run studies on the potential impact of the dam’s impact on water supply and the environment.

In a press statement issued here Tuesday, the minister confirmed that Egypt has received documents pertaining to contracts to be signed with the firms. Expert committees from the three countries are reviewing the contracts, he said.

“There were some minor technical hitches, but these were amended in the final draft that was forwarded to Sudan and Ethiopia for their review,” Moghazi noted.

He added that the suggested amendments were treated by the British legal firm hired to prepare the contracts, to ensure impartiality.

The technical studies on the five-year-old undertaking have been a point of dispute between the three countries.

While Egypt called for construction to be halted until studies are concluded, Ethiopia insisted on proceeding with construction throughout the duration of the studies.