Egypt announced yesterday the indefinite postponement of the contract signing for impact studies on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Al Mal reported, citing Irrigation Ministry spokesperson Walid Haqiqi. The agreements, with French firms Artelia and BRL, were to have been signed in Khartoum today and tomorrow. The delay is due to “outstanding issues between the consultancy firms conducting the technical studies and the legal firm wording the contracts,” according to a statement by Haqiqi. Haqiqi also said the consulting firms were not granted entry visas for Sudan. Talks are taking place to determine a new date. As has often been noted, the dam is currently 70% complete, and even if the signing had taken place as scheduled, the impact studies would be finished long after the completion of the dam’s construction.

1.5 mn feddan reclamation project land up for tender this week? As much as 250K feddans of the 1.5 mn feddan desert reclamation project will be tendered to the private sector sometime this week as part of the first phase of the project, according to a report last week.