Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam has become a 'reality', says minister

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is almost 70 percent complete and "has become a reality", Ethiopia's communication minister said on Friday.

"No matter what happens, things will not change," Getachew Reda told the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

Egypt has repeatedly expressed concerns that Ethiopia's $4.2 billion dam would affect its share of Nile water resources, which Ethiopia continues to deny.

However, the two countries, along with Sudan, have agreed to conduct impact studies on the dam.

"Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt have agreed on the technical committees," Reda said, adding that his country had not promised to stop construction work pending the completion of technical studies.

"The dam will not harm the interests of Sudan and Egypt," he said, stressing that the people of all three Nile basin countries would benefit from it.

"But if some (parties) believe that they will be harmed by it, then this is not Ethiopia's problem," he added.

Reda also said that 50 percent of construction work and most civil engineering projects were complete.

"When turbines are installed, 70 percent of the project will be complete."

When completed in 2017, The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be Africa's largest hydroelectric power plant, with a storage capacity of 74 billion cubic metres of water.

'Catastrophe for Egypt'

Reda's statements have provoked angry reactions among Egyptian people and officials.

Mohamed Nasr Allam, Egypt's former minister of water resources and irrigation, blamed his country's delegation for the failure of the negotiations with Ethiopia over the dam.

"Once completed, the dam will be a catastrophe for Egypt," he told The New Arab.

"It will affect Egypt's share of Nile waters, which is already decreasing due to wastage."

Allam also emphasised the need to change Cairo's approach to the negotiations, saying that Egypt should demand a construction halt until technical studies on the potential harms are completed.

Other Egyptians resorted to social media to comment on Reda's statements and express anger regarding the dam project and Egypt's failure to negotiate.

Translation: When it comes to the Renaissance Dam, there are no compromises, especially after the recent statements by Ethiopia's foreign minister.