Egypt set to conclude studies on South Sudan dam

Egypt's irrigation ministry said it was about to conclude studies on the construction of a new dam in Africa's newest state, South Sudan, as part of Egyptian aid pledged to the war-torn country.

All the project's hydrological, geological and construction studies have been conducted and a final report will soon be examined by a specialised committee, Egypt's irrigation minister Mohamed Abdel-Moteleb said at a seminar in Cairo on Thursday.

The project in the northwestern city of Wau comes as part of the $26.6 million in aid Egypt has pledged to South Sudan since 2011.

Projects slated to be carried out by the Egyptian government as part of the assistance include cleansing the Bahr Al-Ghazal River, the chief water tributary of the Nile, as well as setting up a number of river anchorages to link up the country's cities and villages and facilitate shipping.

Seventeen groundwater wells and three drinking water wells have already been dug, and three water level measuring stations have been completed in the cities of Malakal, Juba and Wau, according to Abdel-Moteleb.

Egypt sent humanitarian aid late last year to Africa's newest state, which has been embroiled by civil war and a resultant humanitarian crisis since it declared independence from Sudan in 2011.

Sudan took sides in an ongoing dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia when it backed the construction of giant dam Addis Ababa is building on the Nile near the Sudanese border, a source of concern to Egypt, which fears the hydropower project will hugely affect its water share.