Egypt Calls on Ethiopia to Seek Solution on Nile Water Sharing

Egypt will try reach a solution for its conflict with Ethiopia about a dam on the Nile river, Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said.

“We will take action to guarantee the water security of Egypt and preserve our rights in the waters of the Nile,” he told a televised press conference in Cairo today. “We call on the Ethiopian side to respond.”

Ethiopia this year decided to proceed with the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, planned as Africa’s largest hydropower plant, ignoring Egypt’s concern that its water supply would be reduced.

Mohammed Mursi, the Egyptian president who was ousted in an army coup this month, had been accused by his opponents of having no plan for dealing with the Ethiopian dam project.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maher Chmaytelli in Dubai at mchmaytelli@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net