(Photo: Arab contractors website)
Egypt's Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and a number of officials have discussed the latest developments in the construction of Tanzania's Julius Nyerere dam, a joint venture implemented by a consortium made up of the Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric, a cabinet statement said on Friday.
The discussion was attended by Electricity Minister Mohamed Shaker, Housing Minister Assem El-Gazzar, Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Nile Basin Countries Yousry Khalil, and others including representatives from state-run Arab Contractors.
"President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has given directives to implement the project at the highest level of quality to reflect the Egyptian contracting sector's capabilities to complete major projects," Madbouly told the officials at the meeting.
The consortium was awarded a tender to establish the hydropower dam on Tanzania's Rufiji River in December 2018.
The project comprises a main dam with a concrete body and four other saddle dams to form a reservoir with a capacity to impound approximately 34 billion cubic meters of water in addition to a hydropower station.
In the same month, an agreement on building the dam was signed by representatives from state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company, Elsewedy Electric and the Arab Contractors in the presence of Tanzanian President John Magufuli and Madbouly.
The $2.9 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station has been under construction since 2019 and is projected to produce 2,115 megawatts of power.
As many as 5,233 labourers are taking part in the project, including 526 Egyptians, 3,974 Tanzanians, and 733 workers from other countries, according to Friday's statement.
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