A number of Arab development funds have committed $780 million to finance the hydroelectric Merowe dam on the Nile River in northern Sudan, according to the country’s Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Kamal Ali Muhammad, quoted by Al-Sahafi Al-Dawli newspaper.
The financing is to be provided by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the Kuwaiti Fund for Economic Development, the Saudi Fund for Economic Development and the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development.
Plans of the dam have already been drawn, and bids from international firms for its construction—to begin next year—are soon to be invited. The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that the $1.8 billion Merowe dam project is designed to produce 1,250 megawatts of electricity.
The dam will also serve as a means of redirecting water for irrigation in the region. Heavy rainfall in Ethiopia has caused the Nile river to reach its highest level in over 20 years, which as consequently lead to flooding in some parts of Sudan. — (Mena Report)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
