In a major celebration organized by the state of Tanzania, Egypt announced its participation in the first filling of the huge "Julius Nyerere" dam in Tanzania

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed Egypt's keenness on the development of the Nile Basin countries by contributing to infrastructure projects and electricity generation projects on the African continent.

Sameh Shoukry said during his participation in the celebration of the start of filling the Julius Nyerere Dam Lake on the rufigi River in Tanzania, that the project was built with Egyptian and Tanzanian forearms at a total cost of about 2.9 billion dollars, and a hydroelectric power plant with a capacity of 2115 MW, stressing that the project will have an important role in the lives of the Tanzanian people.

Shoukry added that the cooperation in this project reflects Egypt's keenness to participate in the development of the countries located in the Nile Basin, which confirms that cooperation between them will continue if there is political will.

For his part, engineer Ayman Attiya, director of the implementation of the Julius Nyerere dam project, said that the will of the Tanzanian People is behind the implementation of a project of this magnitude, and there are great challenges, including Corona affected the project, because the factories supplying equipment were closed continuously, in addition to the equipment remaining on the docks of the industrialized countries for long periods due to the cessation of sea freight traffic at that time.

Julius Nyerere, dam project implementation manager, added that the Tanzanian will, the support of the Egyptian government and continuous follow-up were the main supporters to face the challenges facing us, adding that the opening will be in two main stages with 80% of the project.

For his part, Rafi Youssef, vice president of the Julius Nyerere dam Alliance, said that there were many problems we were facing at the beginning of the project, including roads, so we did road paving projects to transport heavy equipment used in the construction of the dam.

The vice president of the dam alliance, Julius Nyerere, confirmed that the dam will start generating electricity after the completion of the installation of all turbines, and the start of operation in 2024, explaining that "they have experience gained from existing projects in Egypt, even in turbine installations, and we have become distinct from the executing company.

It is worth mentioning that the lake Nyerere dam project aims to generate electricity with a capacity of 2115 MW and provide electricity needs in Tanzania, and the project also aims to control the flow of river water throughout the year, especially in periods of flooding.