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Eritrea shifts course on Egypt-Ethiopia dispute over Nile dam

The visit of the Eritrean president to the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam shows a change of position in Eritrea, which had always backed Egypt in the Nile dam issue.
A general view of the 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 negotiators

CAIRO — The visit of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) during his official visit to Ethiopia on Oct. 13 raised several questions about the impact of such rapprochement on the Egyptian diplomatic moves to galvanize the support of the neighboring countries for Egypt in the Nile dam dispute. The dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia revolves around the Nile water management and dealing with the potential risks and adverse effects of the GERD on Egyptian water security. 

Since Ethiopia first announced the construction of the GERD under Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in April 2011, Afwerki had expressed negative stances on the dam.

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