Egyptian Government Bonds Cover 26.3% of Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Costs

Ethiopian Great Renaissance Dam Project construction site at Gumba Woreda just 40 kilometers from the border with Sudan. The dam will provide an economic boost to the region., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Govt bonds cover 26.3% of Ethiopian dam costs

Ahram Online, Friday 14 Mar 2014

The Grand Renaissance Dam is currently under construction in Ethiopia

The under-construction Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam has received more than 26.3 percent of its construction costs in the form of government bonds purchased by Ethiopians, MENA reported.

The Egyptian state news agency, quoting Ethiopian Walta news, said the Ethiopian National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam “appreciated the remarkable contribution of the Ethiopian people.”

The $4.2 billion hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile, one of the main tributaries of the Nile, has become a source of concern to Egypt. Officials say the dam may restrict the amount of water reaching Egypt, which is downstream from Ethiopia.

The Nile is Egypt's main source of potable water.

Ethiopians are so keen on the construction of the dam that they are backing it not only in finance but also in diplomacy, the council added.

The council said that Ethiopians, both inside and outside Ethiopia, have played significant roles in fighting negative attitudes in connection to the construction of the dam.

According to the council, March will witness celebrations in Ethiopia and other parts of the world to mark the third anniversary of the beginning of the construction of the dam.

Earlier this month, a spokesman of the government-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation, which is constructing the dam, said 32 percent of the construction has been completed.

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan formed a tripartite technical committee to study the possible effects of the dam and try to generate consensus on the project. Ethiopia maintains that Egypt's water share will not be negatively affected by the successful completion of the dam.

In recent meetings in Khartoum, the tripartite committee was scheduled to draft a document that entails "confidence building measures" between the countries, and also to form a special international conflict resolution committee.

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