Downstream, Egypt is concerned that the dam will affect its annual share of Nile water, causing shortages. National leaders have addressed the annual UN General Assembly remotely this year because of pandemic-related concerns and travel restrictions. Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s 25 September statement accentuated the benefit of the GERD to water resources conservation which otherwise would be lost to evaporation in downstream countries. Egypt has insisted that Ethiopia should fill the dam reservoir over a period of seven years and release 40 billion cubic meters of water every year. The latest round of negotiations among Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan around the GERD, brokered by the African Union, have not reached consensus on legal and technical differences.

Source: Ethiopian News October 04, 2020 12:22 UTC