CAIRO — Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has recently announced that his country completed the third filling of the reservoir of its controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) located on the Blue Nile, the main tributary of the Nile River. This move is likely to heighten tensions with the two downstream countries, Sudan and Egypt.
In a ceremony attended by senior Ethiopian officials at the GERD site Aug. 12, Ahmed said in a speech, “Today as you see behind me, the third filling is complete. Compared to last year, we have reached 600 meters [1,968 feet], which is 25 meters [82 feet] higher than the previous filling phase.”
