Somalilandsun – According to the Amharic newspaper Addis Admass source, the Ethiopian government has completed plans for a second major Dam on the Nile river while disputes with Egypt has already grown over the first GERD dam.
An inside government source confirmed to the newspaper that Ethiopia wants to build another dam as well as initiate an irrigation project on the Nile to feed its growing population. Since over 85% of the Nile waters flowing to Egypt originate from Ethiopia, cairo leaders have previously blocked international funding for Ethiopian dam projects since the 1970s. Ethiopia has so far used only 2% of its own Nile water sources while Egypt has dominated the water for decades. But the current Ethiopian ruling party has managed to improve its relations with the West, Sudan and China to its favor. Half a dozen African nations and Sudan have supported the Ethiopian dam. With over 90 million people, Ethiopia has become the second largest country in Africa and its leaders seek to end foreign aid dependency.
The inside government source claimed that executive members of the EPRDF ruling party has been angered by the hostile comments from the Cairo government since January this year, which they see as racism because Ethiopia was never consulted during the construction of Aswan Dam in Egypt. The executive has put pressure on the young Ethiopian PM to take a stronger stance. According to the source, Ethiopian military officials have also detected increased Egyptian agitation for rebel groups in horn of Africa, including on Ogaden rebels and Somalia.
Some leftist members of the Ethiopian ruling party have blamed the United States foreign policy for tilting the balance of power in Africa by continuing to give F-16 jets and billions in military aid to Egypt. They attribute these western policies for emboldening Cairo to bully Nile Basin African countries.
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