Via: Aljazeera

Ethiopia has completed the filling of a massive, controversial dam on the Blue Nile river for a second year, state media has said, a move that is likely to anger Egypt and Sudan who have long opposed the project. Addis Ababa has said the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a $4bn hydropower project, is crucial to its economic development and to provide power But the project has caused concern over water shortages and safety in Egypt and Sudan, which also depend on the Nile’s waters. Both countries have called for a binding legal arrangement before dam operations begin, but attempts at mediation have failed, raising concerns that tensions could rise following the most recent announcement. “The second filling of the Renaissance dam has been completed and the water is overflowing,” Seleshi Bekele, Ethiopia’s minister for water, irrigation and energy said on Monday (19/07).

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