ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia 

Water ministers and experts from Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt on Friday begun a two-day meeting to reach an agreement on the filling and operation of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The tripartite negotiation in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, which has involved observers from the U.S. government and World Bank, is a first round of four meetings agreed by the three countries in Washington earlier this month.

GERD is Ethiopia’s mega power project which is being built at a cost of $5 billion since 2011.

Read more: Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan meet over dam dispute