CAIRO (Sputnik) — A declaration regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was signed in the Sudanese capital Khartoum by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Sisi, Sudanese President Omar Bashir and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
In 2011, Ethiopia announced the construction of the GERD. The $4.7 billion hydro-electric project triggered a crisis in relations between Egypt and Ethiopia as Cairo was afraid that the project would threaten its scarce water resources.
In November 2014, Egypt and Ethiopia agreed that Ethiopia would proceed with the construction of the GERD, but the country had to take Egypt's interests over the Nile into consideration.
The Nile crosses all the three African countries, but up to 85 percent of the river runs through Ethiopia. Egypt and Sudan are mostly desert countries and depend on the Nile water for up to 70 percent of their water needs.
