ISTANBUL 

Ethiopia has completed 94% of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), state-affiliated broadcaster Fana TV reported Thursday. 

Following a meeting, the National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of GERD announced that the final stages of construction were underway.

The council called for continued meetings between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia to address disagreements over the dam, which is located on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia, close to the border with Sudan.

The first filling of the dam took place in July 2020 and Ethiopia began producing electricity from GERD on Feb. 20, 2022.

A dispute between Ethiopia and downstream nations Egypt and Sudan over the construction of the dam has dragged on for 12 years.

The three countries failed to reach a resolution in a fourth round of negotiations last month.

The last four rounds of negotiations took place following a hiatus that lasted for more than two years after talks between the three countries broke down in April 2021.

This followed the failure of an African Union initiative to reconcile the viewpoints of the three countries.

Egypt and Sudan insist on first reaching a binding agreement with Ethiopia regarding the filling and operation of the dam to ensure the continued flow of their shares of Nile River water.

On Sept. 10 last year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the success of the fourth stage of filling the dam, a move that Cairo considered a "new violation” by Addis Ababa.