Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General has encouraged Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan to come to an agreement on their differences on the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam being built on the River Nile.
On Tuesday, the Secretary-General mentioned that he hopes that the three nations would come to an agreement that will be beneficial to the three Nations. The construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam began in 2011 in Ethiopia on the River Nile near the border the country shares with Sudan.
The construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam will not only affect Ethiopia but other countries that the River Nile flows through. The River Nile flows through Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda.
Among these countries that share the River Nile, Egypt’s objection is loudest. According to Egypt, the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam on the River Nile would have a grave impact on the river and the Egyptian agriculture would suffer greatly from this construction.
Agriculture in Egypt depends heavily on the water that flows through the River Nile.
Many Egyptian farmers used irrigation methods to wet their crops with the water flowing through the River Nile. Experts predict that the Grand Renaissance dam in Ethiopia would dry up the water in the River Nile over the years which would lead to a drought in Egypt resulting in food scarcity and insecurity for the country’s population.
Once the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam is completed in Ethiopia, it will be the largest dam ever constructed in Africa with a capacity to produce about 6.45 gigawatts.
6.45 gigawatts is more electricity than Ethiopia can consume and the country hopes to sell its leftovers to neighbouring countries such as Sudan, Djibouti and also Egypt.
The estimated cost to complete the Grand Renaissance Dam is said to be about $4.5 billion. Ethiopia hopes to begin filling up the Dam reservoir by July which is predicted will take about 5 to 15 years to fill up with water.
