Ethiopia's Nile Dam Will Not Harm Countries Located Downstream - Official

Ethiopia has prioritized preventing any potential harm to the countries located downstream when designing the Nile Dam, the country's ambassador to Russia, Alemayehu Tegenu, said in an interview with Sputnik.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th January, 2020) Ethiopia has prioritized preventing any potential harm to the countries located downstream when designing the Nile Dam, the country's ambassador to Russia, Alemayehu Tegenu, said in an interview with Sputnik.

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have restarted technical talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam's construction ahead of a crucial meeting later in the week that is expected unveil a final deal.

"The Ethiopian position is very clear. Utilization of Nile has to be based on the principle of equitable utilization of the Nile waters, a win-win approach and cooperation. Ethiopia has no plans to harm downstream countries. This is the position of Ethiopia at any time. We agree on what allows us to use our resources equitably," Tegenu said.

He further mentioned the importance of technical discussions on equitable utilization.

"We designed the dam in the way that does not create any significant harm to the downstream countries. I believe that the technical discussion will bring solution to the concerns of all three countries," the ambassador said.

The ambassador added that his country would not accept Egypt's request that 40 billion cubic meters (1.4 trillion cubic feet) of water be released by the dam every year.

"Forty billion cubic meters is unacceptable because it is too much. There must be an acceptable figure, That has to be negotiated; 40 billion cubic meters is a very big figure, very difficult for Ethiopia to implement. So there must be a logical figure, based on the factors on the ground," Tegenu said.

Egypt and Sudan have repeatedly expressed concerns that they could experience water shortages because of Ethiopia's dam, due to being located downstream.