South Sudan’s Government to Build Hydropower Dam, Minister Says
South Sudan plans to build a hydropower dam in the northwest of the newly independent country, Water Resources Minister Paul Mayom Akec said.
The dam, which will also be used to store water for irrigation, will be constructed at Wau, 509 kilometers (316 miles) northwest of the capital, Juba, Mayom said in a statement dated Sept. 23 on the government’s website. He didn’t provide details on the size or cost of the project.
South Sudan will also pursue membership of the Nile Basin Authority, a regional body that works to develop water resources in riparian nations on the world’s longest river.
South Sudan was declared independent on July 9, after almost 99 percent of its voters chose to secede from Sudan in a January referendum. At independence, South Sudan gained control of about 375,000 barrels a day of oil, close to 75 percent of the former Sudan’s total output, which was the third-biggest in sub-Saharan Africa.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jared Ferrie in Juba via Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.
Rate this Page