Report: US plans to freeze aid to Ethiopia amid Nile River dam dispute

Foreign Policy reported the proposal by the US State Department could affect up to $130 million in aid as negotiations with Egypt and Sudan on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam continue.
A construction worker looks at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on December 26, 2019. - The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 145-metre-high, 1.8-kilometre-long concrete colossus is set to become the largest hydropower plant in Africa. Across Ethiopia, poor farmers and rich businessmen alike eagerly await the more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity officials say it will ultimately provide. Yet as thousands of workers toil day and night to finish the project, Ethiopian ne
A construction worker looks at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam near Guba in Ethiopia, on Dec. 26, 2019. - EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images
Al Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East
Al-Monitor Staff

The US State Department has approved a proposal to freeze foreign aid to Ethiopia amid the country’s dispute with Egypt and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Foreign Policy reported Thursday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo formally approved the aid freeze and the State Department briefed congressional aides this week. Details are not finalized, but the move could affect up to $130 million in aid, according to Foreign Policy.

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