During his participation in the signing ceremony to construct the Rufiji dam in Tanzania, Egypt s PM Mostafa Madbouly said that the Egyptian construction alliance winning a tender to design and construct the project affirms Cairo s commitment to supporting development efforts in Tanzania and Africa.
During the ceremony on Wednesday, which was attended by Tanzanian President John Magufuli and top country officials, Madbouly gave a speech where he expressed hopes that the project would open new horizons for cooperation between Egypt and Tanzania.
The leading Egyptian construction company Al-Moukawolon Al-Arab (Arab Contractors) has won a tender to design and build the huge dam on Tanzania s Rufiji River, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement last October.
The government-run company has been tasked with building the $3 billion 2.1 GW hydroelectric Stiegler Gorge dam, considered by Tanzania as one of its most important national projects for power generation.
“The Egyptian government, with all its political, economic and technical institutions, is eager to strengthen bilateral relations with Tanzania,” the Egyptian PM said in his speech.
Madbouly praised the 54-year-old bilateral ties between Egypt and Tanzania.
The PM said that Egypt, which will chair the African Union in 2019, is keen on boosting cooperation with Tanzania on issues of mutual interest and within the framework of Cairo s desire to enhance joint African cooperation.
“There are many important joint projects underway between our countries in various fields. However, we believe that there is still enormous potential to enhance cooperation with our brothers in Tanzania,” the Egyptian premier said
The project is a joint venture between Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric Company, according to a press release from Arab Contractors.
Construction of the facility will involve building a main dam and appurtenant structures, with an expected reservoir length of 100 km and a reservoir area of about 1,350 square km. The dam will be around 134m high.
