An Ethiopian perspective: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

You may have heard about the long-standing impasse between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) — a mega hydropower project which was started in 2011. It is now 75% completed, according to the Ethiopian government reports. The first phase of the water-filling process was completed recently, and the dam now contains 4.9-billion cubic metres of water. For the past 10 years, the three countries have been trying to reach an agreement over the filling of the dam. The negotiations, however, have made no progress and have practically come to a deadlock. The deadlock occurred because Egypt and Sudan want to sustain the 1929 and 1959 agreements that were signed...