CAIRO — The joint venture of Egyptian companies Arab Contractors and El Sewedy Electric Company, under government guidance, continues to work on the Julius Nyerere hydropower project in the Rufiji River in Tanzania.

On June 1, Egyptian Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities Assem el-Gazzar praised the progress of the project and the commitment to preventive and precautionary measures to protect and ensure the health and safety of the workers part of it. Gazzar’s remarks came during a meeting he held to follow up on the execution of the Julius Nyerere hydropower dam and plant project, in the presence of ministry officials and representatives of the joint venture.

The project aims to control the flooding of the Rufiji River, generate power and preserve the environment. It will include the construction of a 1,025-meter-long (3,363-feet) dam, with a height of 134 meters (440 feet) and a storage capacity of 34 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water. The hydroelectric power plant will generate electricity of 2115 megawatts, Mahmoud Nassar, chief of the Central Agency for Reconstruction affiliated with the Ministry of Housing, said during the June 1 meeting. The power station is to be located across the Rufiji River in the Stiegler's Gorge, at the Selous Game Reserve in the Morogoro region in the southwest of Dar es Salaam city in Tanzania, according to Nassar. 

In July 2019, Egypt and Tanzania laid the foundation stone for the hydroelectric dam project in the Rufiji River basin, which is completely located inside Tanzania. The Rufiji River basin consists of the confluence of Kilombero and Luwegu rivers and is approximately 600 kilometers (373 miles) long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania.