File photo: A general view shows construction activity on the Grand Renaissance dam in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz region March 16, 2014. Egypt fears the $4.7 billion dam, that the Horn of Africa nation is building on the Nile, will reduce a water supply vital for its 84 million people, who mostly live in the Nile valley and delta. Picture taken March 16, 2014 (Photo: Reuters)
Egypt has invited Sudanese and Ethiopian officials for a meeting in Cairo next week to discuss issues regarding Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam, according to an announcement by Minister of Water Sources and Irrigation Hossam Moghazi.
The meeting, held by the Egyptian National Committee of the Grand Ethiopian Dam, will take place on 4 and 5 October, according to Moghazi. It will be attended by the Tripartite National Committee (TNC), as well as French and Dutch consultancy firms to discuss the points of difference between the countries over the dam, so as to start in the technical assessment of it.
In September, Dutch consultancy firm Deltares withdrew from the assessment of the dam. Deltares stated that it had withdrawn from the project as the conditions imposed by the TNC -- which includes representatives from Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia, as well as the French consultancy firm BRL -- did not provide sufficient guarantees for Deltares that an independent high-quality study could be carried out.
Since then, the future of the Renaissance Dam negotiations has remained unclear.
Egypt has repeatedly expressed concerns that its share of Nile water could be compromised by Ethiopia's dam project.
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