Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan agree to resume dialogues over disputed Nile Dam

Ethiopia authorities have announced that the country has met its first-year target for the Nile Dam. According to reports, the filling up of the mega-dam to the targeted level will allow the first set of turbines to be tested. The dam has been a major source of tension between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan which have recently decided to resume talks over the project after initial disagreements.

Read: Ethiopia Dam Reservoir On River Nile Filling Up As Talks With Egypt & Sudan Break Down

Nile Dam talks resume

According to reports, construction of the dam began in 2011 and fanned diplomatic tensions between the concerned countries.   Following a virtual summit, the three nations have agreed to resume talks after the last dialogue on the subject broke down a week ago. 

According to reports, Ethiopia sees the Nile dam essential to its economic growth as well as a reliable source of energy, while Egypt and Sudan that are located further downstream worry the dam will greatly limit their water access and give too much control over the River Nile to Ethiopia. The two countries fear that Epothia might not release water from the dam during months of prolonged drought.

Read: Ethiopia Denies Reports Government Has Started Filling Dam

Years of negotiations between the three countries, while the dam was being built, failed to reach a consensus on how much water should Ethiopia release. According to reports, the Nile dam will provide Ethiopia with 6,000 megawatts of electricity and will make it the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa. The dam is estimated capable of providing steady electricity to 65 million people in Ethiopia that currently lack a dependable source.

Experts have predicted that in the first year, the Nile dam will be able to retain 4.9 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water which will fill the dam up to the lowest height of the wall. As per reports, Ethiopia has claimed that it will take five to seven years for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) to fill to its maximum capacity and it is estimated that the lake, which shall be created in the backdrop of the project, will stretch back 250 kilometres.

Read: Ethiopia's Disputed Dam Reservoir Begins To Swell, See Satellite Images

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