Ethiopia, Egypt resume water squabbles months after mega dam went online

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Gerd) on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia.

Photo credit: Reuters

Egypt and Ethiopia have resumed bickering over use of the Nile waters, months after Addis Ababa opened electricity production from the Grand Renaissance Dam (Gerd). And this time the tiff is not on whether to have the dam, but the size of the reservoir, which Cairo says is too big for mere electricity production.

It is a stance that angered Ethiopia this week, accusing Cairo of hanging on “colonial-era treaties” to refuse dialogue.