Over the weekend, rising Nile waters submerged homes in northern Egypt and Sudan, heightening tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the impact of its mega-dam. Egypt on Friday blamed Ethiopia for the rising Nile River waters and flooding this week. In Sudan, the U.N. migration agency said floods in Bahri, Khartoum state, displaced about 1,200 families last week and destroyed homes. Egypt’s Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry has accused Ethiopia of “reckless unilateral” operation. Ethiopia describing Egypt’s statement as “malicious and riddled with numerous baseless claims”.
KHARTOUM OCTOBER 8: The Nile has long been affected by seasonal flooding due to monsoon rain in the Ethiopian Highlands. Over the weekend, rising Nile waters submerged homes in northern Egypt, heightening tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa over the impact of its mega-dam.
Egypt on Friday blamed Ethiopia for the rising Nile River waters and flooding this week in two of its northernmost provinces, claiming the unusually high water levels are due to the East African country’s mismanagement of its new controversial dam on the river.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam formerly known as the Millennium Dam and sometimes referred to as the Hidase Dam, is a gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia. The dam is in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of Ethiopia, about 14 km east of the border with Sudan. Constructed between 2011 and 2023, the dam’s primary purpose is electricity production to relieve Ethiopia’s acute energy shortage and to export electricity to neighbouring countries. With an installed capacity of 5.15 gigawatts, the dam is the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa.
Egypt, located over 2,500 kilometres downstream of the site, opposes the dam, which it believes will reduce the amount of Nile water available to Egypt. Ethiopia denies that the dam will have a negative impact on downstream water flows and contends that the dam will, in fact, increase water flows to Egypt by reducing evaporation on Lake Nasser.
In Sudan, the U.N. migration agency said floods in Bahri, Khartoum state, displaced about 1,200 families last week and destroyed homes, compounding an 18-month war that has crippled the country’s response.
Egypt’s Water Resources and Irrigation Ministry has accused Ethiopia of “reckless unilateral” operation of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, saying sharp, unannounced swings in water releases after the dam’s September 9 inauguration helped trigger a “man-made, late flood”.
Ethiopia, which sees the $5 billion dam as central to its development, rejected Cairo’s claims, describing Egypt’s statement as “malicious and riddled with numerous baseless claims”.
