Congo supports Egypt on Ethiopian dam issue: Prime minister

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Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo has announced his country’s support for Egypt’s position in the ongoing dispute over Ethiopia’s controversial Grand Renaissance Dam, which Addis Ababa is building on a tributary to the River Nile.

“We have declared our position before regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and we always support Egypt,” Ponyo said at a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sherif Ismail on Thursday during a visit to Cairo.

Ismail, in return, expressed Egypt’s support for Congo’s construction of the Grand Inga Dam on the Congo River.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of Africa’s Nile Basin countries.

Despite Egypt’s concerns over the dam’s impact on its share of Nile water, the country’s main source of fresh water, Ethiopia insists it would not negatively affect Egypt negatively.

Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have been holding talks over the dam, and are waiting for independent technical reports to determine how the dam might impact upstream countries

The Congolese PM and his Egyptian counterpart discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries. The two officials signed a number of economic development protocols of cooperation.

Ponyo also visited Egypt’s House of Representatives and met with its speaker Ali Abdel-Al.