Q2 1903; CAIRO
-- A great dam project under construction in Ethiopia has placed on display the ambition of Emperor Menelek and the
potential of Ethiopia, but aroused suspicion in Egypt and Great Britain.
The dam is under construction on the Blue Nile between Lake Tana and Addis Ababa. It is being funded by Menelek's government and French capitalists, utilizing French and German industry with Ethiopian labourers. Its completion will greatly increase the water supply of Western Ethiopia, resulting limitless potential for the production of cash crops such as coffee and khat, which are in high demand in France and elsewhere on the continent.
This will greatly enrich Menelek and the French capitalists who have invested in Ethiopia. By extension, the French government will benefit from the taxation of these industries. However, the government of Egypt has howled to their British allies about the powers the dam creates for Ethiopia; namely, the opportunity to cut off the Blue Nile's flow at a whim, greatly reducing the availability of water in Egypt and Sudan, or to allow a build-up of water to rush out, potentially overhwhelming the Nile floodplain.
The dam is under construction on the Blue Nile between Lake Tana and Addis Ababa. It is being funded by Menelek's government and French capitalists, utilizing French and German industry with Ethiopian labourers. Its completion will greatly increase the water supply of Western Ethiopia, resulting limitless potential for the production of cash crops such as coffee and khat, which are in high demand in France and elsewhere on the continent.
This will greatly enrich Menelek and the French capitalists who have invested in Ethiopia. By extension, the French government will benefit from the taxation of these industries. However, the government of Egypt has howled to their British allies about the powers the dam creates for Ethiopia; namely, the opportunity to cut off the Blue Nile's flow at a whim, greatly reducing the availability of water in Egypt and Sudan, or to allow a build-up of water to rush out, potentially overhwhelming the Nile floodplain.



