Ethiopia accuses Egypt of obstructing its water projects

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 11, 2005 (Tobya) — Egypt, which has been working against development activities of the five Nile riparian states for centuries, has managed to create obstacles to Ethiopia’s water development projects by convincing international financial institutions not to give Ethiopia loans for water development projects.

It has been revealed that the suspension of loans, earlier approved by the African Development Bank as well as another renowned bank based in Europe, meant for the second phase of the Tis Abay hydropower project owned by the Ethiopian Power and Lighting Company, is part of a ploy by the Egyptian government aimed at disrupting Ethiopia’s water development projects.

The Egyptian ambassador to Ethiopia, Ambassador Marwan Badr, who had been in Ethiopia for 11 years was instrumental for various studies carried out by Egyptian water engineers and experts. He had also facilitated the deployment of these experts along the Blue Nile and its tributary rivers during his tenure of office.

Ambassador Marwan is currently minister of state for water resources in his country.

Material providd by the BBC Monitoring Service; original text in Amharic.