Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will meet his Ethiopian counterpart Workneh Gebeyehu in Cairo on Wednesday, MENA state agency has reported. According to MENA, the two foreign ministers will meet at Cairo's Tahrir Palace, which is owned by the foreign affairs ministry, to discuss bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest issues, chiefly the Nile water file. Following the talks, Shoukry and Gebeyehu will hold a joint press conference. There has been tension between Egypt and Ethiopia in recent years over the construction of Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam, a project which Cairo fears will negatively affect Egypt's Nile water share. Addis Ababa maintains that the dam project, which Ethiopia needs to generate electricity, will not harm downstream countries. In recent months, relations between Cairo and Addis have improved, especially after Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan in September signed the final contracts for long-awaited technical studies on the potential impact of the dam on downstream countries.
