Panic in Egypt as huge £3.6bn African mega-dam 'threatens to cut vital water supply'

A new £3.6billion dam in Ethiopia has been completed, according to officials but it's feared the hydropower project will impact Egypt's vital supply of water from the River Nile. For thousands of years, Egyptians have depended on the waterway to grow crops, however the 145-metre tall Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam - owned and operated by the Ethiopian Electric Power company - threatens to cut its supply. Experts argue a 2% reduction in water from the world's longest river could see a loss of 200,000 acres of irrigated land.

Egypt is also afraid that during droughts, Ethiopia could fill the dam's reservoir - which holds 74billion cubic meters of water, and is roughly the size of Greater London - with water, to increase the structure's electricity generating capacity, instead of letting it flow downstream. Farmer Abu Kassem told Al Jazeera in 2020 that the dam could add to the severe water shortages already hitting his village if no deal were struck to ensure a continued flow of water. He added: "The dam means our death."

"There is no agreement on how Gerd should be managed during and following periods of drought," Mohammed Basheer of the University of Toronto told the BBC.

"Without an agreement, Ethiopia might adopt an approach that maximizes electricity generation following droughts, by first recovering storage, which would be unfavourable for Egypt."

The US President Donald Trump said that same year that Egypt had threatened to "blow up" the structure. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has tried to assuage anxieties.

He said: "To our neighbours downstream - Egypt and Sudan - our message is clear: the Renaissance Dam is not a threat, but a shared opportunity."

Mr Ahmed Ali also said that he "remains committed to ensuring that our growth does not come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters".

He added: "We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water... Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all."

The construction of the dam began in 2011, and officials have been trying to work out an agreement over the scheme for years.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Sudan's military chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met last week and "stressed their rejection of any unilateral measures in the Blue Nile Basin", AFP news agency reported.

The dam is designed to trap 100 years of sediment inflow carried by water before it reaches the reservoir.

Ethiopia wants the dam to produce electricity for 60% of its population who currently do not have a supply.

It is thought that this will double the country's electricity output, providing businesses with the energy they need to boost development.

Electricity could also be provided for nearby countries, such as Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti and Eritrea.