Delegation inspects Renaissance Dam in first Egyptian visit
Representatives of the Egyptian Ministry of Water and Irrigation visited Ethiopia's in-progress Renaissance Dam to verify no water is being stored there yet, but anxiety continues over an overdue technical report on the project's impacts.
CAIRO — The Egyptian Ministry of Water and Irrigation announced in an Oct. 18 press statement that an Egyptian delegation had verified that no water is yet stored in the Renaissance Dam and that there is nothing obstructing the Nile. The statement followed the Oct. 17 visit of the group, headed by Minister of Water and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty, to the Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia near the Sudanese border. It was the first visit of its kind by an Egyptian state official.
Atiya Issawi, who covers African affairs for Al-Ahram newspaper, said that the visit was intended to dispel Egyptian doubts about the Renaissance Dam amid the faltering negotiations and Ethiopia’s moving forward on its construction. He told Al-Monitor, “The Ethiopian government’s invitation to Egypt and its technical delegation to visit the dam shows that tensions between the two countries have eased, relatively,” adding that the Ethiopian move was meant to convey good will.
