Former Irrigation Minister of Sudan says GERD is very beneficial to downstream countries

Addis Ababa, May 13, 2021 (FBC) – in an exclusive interview with Dialoge Horizon, Sudanese former Irrigation Minister, Dr. Osman Altoom Hamed said that the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is very beneficial to Sudan in many aspects.

He passionately discusses how the GERD will have enormous benefits to Sudan and serve as a stepping stone to create a more robust and vibrant regional economic integration among the countries in the Horn with a possibility of extending beyond.

“Population growth goes hand in hand with expanded needs. Therefore we shall focus on sharing of benefits than to water quota,” he says.

“There are four hydroelectric dams constructed on River Nile including GERD, and all are intended to hydroelectric power generation” he added.

Dr. Osman Altoom Hamed elaborated that Ethiopia’s construction of hydropower dams on the River Nile would bring importance to regulate the flow of water to Sudan and curtail the occurrence of flooding by decreasing evaporation.

“The construction of more hydropower dams by Ethiopia would bring more benefits to the Nile lower riparian countries,” Altoom noted, adding that the completion of the GERD would also have positive outcomes to his country.

“The GERD will have a constant flow of 130 million cubic meters per day and it will be just like the Aswan dam for Egypt. Through availing a regular flow of water to all Nile downstream countries, Ethiopia’s mega dam could create an opportunity to Sudan need not to store a lot of water in its dams as it can operate its dams at a lower.”

Sudan has been studying issues of dams in Ethiopia for a long time since 1960s, and all the findings indicate that any hydropower generation dam in Ethiopia is beneficial to Sudan in regulating water flow and addressing issues with silt sediments.

“Even Ethiopia builds three additional dam on Nile River, all these will be beneficial to Sudan” he added.