ETHIOPIA – The government of Ethiopia Ethiopian has launched the construction of the Ajima-Chacha irrigation dam in the Amhara region in the north of the country.

The US$126.9 million project has been awarded to the Chinese Civil Engineering Corporation (CCEC) in partnership with Amhara Water Works Construction Enterprise.

The Ethiopian Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Seleshi Bekele, recently visited the Amhara region to lay the foundation stone for the construction of the Ajima-Chacha Irrigation Dam on the Jimma River.

Over the next three years, the two companies will commission the 45.5m high and 371 m long dam capable of holding 55 million m3 of water, which will be used to develop at least 7,000 hectares of plantations.

Irrigation of this arid land and agricultural development should benefit at least 28,000 families who will grow fruits such as apples, vegetables, wheat, and barley in the Amhara region.

“The 45.5m high and 371 m long dam capable of holding 55 million m3 of water, which will be used to develop at least 7,000 hectares of plantations”

As part of its contract, CCEC will also lay 44 kilometres of main pipelines and 20 kilometres of secondary pipelines.

The construction of the Ajima-Chacha dam will require an investment of US$126.9 million dollars.

The dam is part of the Ajima-Chacha Irrigation Development Project, which is being launched just a few months after the start of construction of the Kaza Irrigation Dam in the Tigray region, bordering Eritrea and Sudan.

This water reservoir will be 57m high and 2.54 kilometre long and carry out this other agricultural development project, the Ethiopian government has chosen Ethiopian Construction Works Corporation, Sur Construction and Afar Water Works Construction Enterprise.

The Kaza Irrigation Project will require an investment of US$ 139.4 million.

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