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Egypt signs up to Ethiopian Nile dam, cites trust

Egypt on Monday agreed to a preliminary deal with Ethiopia on a new dam project that Cairo feared would hamper the flow of the Nile, the river on which it depends.

The leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan all gathered in Khartoum to sign the agreement of principles on Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance dam project.

“I confirm the construction of the Renaissance Dam will not cause any damage to our three states and especially to the Egyptian people,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said at the signing ceremony.

Egypt, heavily reliant for millennia on the Nile for agriculture and drinking water, feared that the Grand Renaissance Dam would decrease its water supply.

However, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said today that “this is a framework agreement and it will be completed”.

“We have chosen cooperation, and to trust one another for the sake of development.”

He said the final accord will “achieve benefits and development for Ethiopia without harming Egypt and Sudan’s interests”.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir hailed the deal as “historic”. Ethiopia began diverting the Blue Nile in May 2013 to build the 6,000 MW dam, which will be Africa’s largest when completed in 2017.
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