South Sudan plans Hydroelectric Dam project on Nile

The Foreign Affairs Ministry of South Sudan on Friday disclosed a plan to build a hydroelectric generating dam on the Nile river. 

According to Ethiopian News Agency, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of South Sudan, Deng Dau Deng , told the National NewsPaper that his country could afford to build a dam which he said is important to transition the war torn South Sudan to an industry led economy.

The Dam is one of the projects which the government of South Sudan intends to finance with revenue from oil. 

Furthermore, the Deputy Minister said that South Sudan has been facing challenges related to flooding, shortage of power supply, water shortage and poor infrastructure. 

The country’s Irrigation ministry is said to have finalized the project plan including the height of the dam, the amount of water it will hold and the number of turbines to be installed. Details are yet to be unveiled. 

Mr. Malek is also cited as saying that the key to build the Dam is a financial resource, and he said that his country could afford it. 

South Sudan has been trying to mediate Ethiopia and Sudan over the border dispute, which Ethiopia declined out of pursuit of a bilateral solution to the problem.

Egypt and Sudan, countries currently in dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, have not yet reacted to South Sudan’s plan to build a dam over the Nile. 

Nile riparian countries ( about eleven of them) are increasingly asserting the right to use water from the Nile  in an equitable manner. Egypt, which is currently consuming over 55 billion cubic meters of the Nile water, claims that it has “a historical right” over the Nile River. 

Source https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://borkena.com/2021/06/25/south-sudan-plans-hydroelectric-dam-project-on-nile/&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGjVjYWMzMDRkNTczNGIxNjg6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNHRtIYWoO_4mnYrCwFsEtds2crTqg