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Egypt Independent
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs slammed Ethiopia’s unilateral operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in a reaction to an Ethiopian announcement on Sunday.
“In response to the Ethiopian announcement on Sunday of unilaterally starting the operation of GERD, after the previous unilateral start of the first and second stages of filling the dam, Egypt affirms that this step is a further move by the Ethiopian side in violation of its obligations under the 2015 Declaration of Principles Agreement, signed by the Ethiopian Prime Minister”, the Ministry’s statement read.
The Sunday announcement that Ethiopia will start producing electricity for the first time from the GERD comes despite contentions from the downstream nations Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially inaugurated the partial commencement of power generation from the GERD.
“Ethiopia does not want to harm anyone. The country’s goal is to use the power for its large population which has never seen electricity and to alleviate poverty”, Ethiopian news agency (ENA) quoted Ahmed.
Negotiations over the GERD were officially halted in April 2021 due to Ethiopian intransience in respect of Egyptian and Sudanese request of a legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam prior to the second filling of the dam in July 2021.
