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Ethiopia today celebrated the 9th year of the start of construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) with a panel discussion.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sileshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy said any external pressures and challenges from inside couldn’t deter the progress of the project.

The dam will start holding 4.9 billion cubic meters of water next rainy season, the Minister said.

Engineer Ashebir Balcha, Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) CEO, said the dam is progress well and could start holding water next July.

However, if plans to hold water is not achieved due to a variety of reasons, the country will lose up to €1 billion in one year, he said.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is now 72.4%, said Engineer Kifle Horo, General Manager of the project.

Roman Gebreselassie, Head of Office of the National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of Dam, said Ethiopians from inside and abroad have so far contributed 13.4 billion birr for the dam.

Meanwhile, President Sahle-Work Zewde said the dam is a flagship project executed to break poverty.

Ethiopia is building the dam to reach 65 million people who do not have access to electricity and defeat poverty once and for all, she said.

“The project is a symbol of our unity and determination,” she said.

The President called upon all Ethiopians to continue their support to make the project a success.

GERD is scheduled to be fully completed in 2023.

Ethiopia and South Korea have signed two concessional loan agreements amounting $93 million today.

The loan would be used to finance the Addis Ababa Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and land information management system (LIMS).

Of the total, $63 million will be channeled for the BRT project.

The BRT corridor will have five essential services out of which two will be constructed within the corridor and will be delivered by 18 metre-long, low-floor buses.

Three services with a fleet of 12 metre-long, low-floor buses will partially be branched out of the corridors to provide direct services.

The Addis Ababa Bus Rapid Transit is expected take five years for completion.

The agreements were signed by Admasu Nebebe, State Minister of Finance and Shin Deog-Yong Senior Executive Director, EXIM Bank of Korea.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed held phone conversation with South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The discussion focused on the need for collective leadership to overcome the impact of coronavirus (COVID19) together, according to a twitter post by the Prime Minister

“We agreed that withstanding the economic damages that the pandemic introduces requires the support of G20, World Bank and IMF for Africa,” he added.

The Prime Minister held phone talks with a number of leaders on ways to mobilize support for Africa’s fight against the virus.

The number of confirmed cases around the world is now nearing 860,000, with more than 42,000 deaths.

UN Secretary General António Guterres warned that the current coronavirus outbreak is the biggest challenge for the world since World War Two.

He said it could bring a recession “that probably has no parallel in the recent past”.

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Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed held phone talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on ways to induce international support for Africa’s fight against coronavirus (COVID-19).

In a 17-minute conversation, Dr Abiy pointed out that responding to COVID-19 has emerged as one of the biggest problems in Africa and the continent needs to learn from South Korea’s experience, the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said.

“Ethiopia is suffering huge damages in its economy due to COVID-19,” the Prime Minister, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was quoted as saying by Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Kang Min-seok.

During the talks, he told Moon that he was “proud” of the “brother-like president’s coronavirus response,” saying Africa is in need of “your experience and global leadership,” Kang added.

The president, in response, reminded him that the Group of 20 (G-20) members expressed their concerns in last week’s video summit about the vulnerability of Africa’s health systems and economies.

“I expect that the issue of providing support to Africa will be addressed intensively in the process of taking follow-up measures to the G-20 joint statement,” Moon said.

He extended his gratitude to the Ethiopian government for its cooperation in bringing South Korean troops back home from South Sudan on the nation’s chartered flight after their U.N. peacekeeping mission.

Moon requested the prime minister’s help, if necessary, for South Korean nationals in Africa seeking to fly to their homeland, noting that Ethiopia is a continental aviation hub.

PM Dr Abiy said his government would provide South Korea with such help at any time.