Egypt fears the dam, which is about 60% complete, will significantly reduce its vital share of the Nile’s waters. Ethiopia has downplayed those fears and said it needs the dam for its own economic development.
A grim-faced President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi emerged from a meeting in Cairo on Thursday with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, saying cooperation between Nile basin countries should not be a zero-sum game. Al-Sisi says Ethiopia has rejected an Egyptian proposal for World Bank experts to mediate the dispute.
Egypt depends on the Nile for almost all of its water needs.
