Shoukry, Kamel meet Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed to discuss GERD, kicking off development projects: Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa yesterday to discuss the latest developments in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), according to a ministry statement. The statement does not delve further into the outcomes of these talks. Egypt and Ethiopia had agreed in June on adopting a “joint vision” on GERD’s construction, which would see Ethiopia catering its timeline of filling the dam to Egypt’s needs in exchange for economic cooperation. The two sides also looked into activating a joint investment fund that will be set up alongside Sudan to finance infrastructure projects.

This came as Addis Ababa reportedly cancelled a contract for the installation of turbines at the GERD with the Ethiopian military-run Metals and Engineering Corporation (Metec), citing repeated delays in implementation, David Philling writes for the Financial Times. Abiy had said earlier this week that the delays could push the start of operations at the dam to 2020.