Egypt’s construction firm Arab Contractors said on Monday it has won a tender to execute the biggest hydroelectric dam in Tanzania, in partnership with Egyptian cable maker ElSewedy Electric.
The Tanzanian government are hoping to build the hydroelectric dam to be one of the most important national projects to generate electricity in Africa, said AC’s chairman Mohsen Salah on Monday.
The two companies had earlier submitted an offer to build a 2,115-megawatt hydroelectric dam in Tanzania’s Stiegler’s Gorge Hydroelectric Power Station, with investments worth $3 billion.
In July, Elsewedy Electric’s chief executive Ahmed El Sewedy said his company would partner with Arab Contractors and other firms to complete the construction works on the dam.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Sunday invited Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to lay the foundation stone for the dam.
In a phone call initiated by Magufuli, Sisi said the construction of the dam will be performed in a way that will make Tanzania, Egypt, and the African continent proud, exemplifying Africa cooperation.
The hydroelectric dam will be built on the Basin of Rufiji River as an important national project to generate power.
The Tanzanian president expressed his appreciation of the historic relations between the two countries and applauded economic cooperation and trade exchange, as well as Egyptian investments in Tanzania.
Tanzania and Egypt share the Nile river along with nine other Nile Basin countries including Ethiopia, which is currently building a giant dam named the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, raising concerns from Egypt, a downstream country, about its annual share of the Nile water.
