Ethiopian PM arrives in Egypt for talks on sharing Nile

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn arrives in Cairo for a two-day visit to discuss a massive dam that Egypt fears will cut into its share of the Nile.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry announced today’s visit in a statement that only made passing mention of the dam among other issues. It said Desalegn would meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, and that the two countries’ foreign ministers had held talks ahead of the visit.

Egypt has expressed mounting alarm over the soon-to-be-completed upstream dam. The Nile provides nearly all the freshwater for the country’s 95 million people.

Ethiopia, with roughly the same population, has downplayed those fears, insisting the dam is essential to its economic development.

Sissi is expected to meet Desalegn tomorrow.

— AP