Egyptian president to meet Ethiopian premier for talks about dam

CAIRO (dpa)- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi said on Sunday he will meet Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali in Russia in a bid to restart stalled talks over a disputed dam being built by Ethiopia on the Nile.
Speaking in televised remarks, al-Sissi did not mentioned the date of the planned meeting.
Talks about Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam been deadlocked as Ethiopia has so far rejected Cairo's proposals for how to fill and operate dam.

Egypt, which relies almost exclusively on the Nile for farming, industry and domestic water use, fears that the dam will reduce its share of the river.
Al-Sissi said that Egyptians were exaggerating in their reactions on social media over the past days. “Issues are not solved in this way... they are solved with dialogue and calm," he said.
He added that Egypt has been carrying out a comprehensive plan since 2014 to solve any possible shortage in water, including setting up plants for water desalination and waste water treatment.
The government has invested 200 billion Egyptian pounds (12.3 billion dollars) as part of the plan so far and by 2037, the figure will reach 900 billion pounds in order to face population growth and water needs, he said.
He added that a number of desalination plants are now producing 1.5 million cubic metres of water per day.
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Sunday, October 13th 2019

dpa