Today, Wednesday, the Ethiopian News Agency broadcast the first footage showing the end of the first stage of filling the Renaissance Dam reservoir, which is being built by Addis Ababa over the Nile.
Aerial footage shows huge amounts of water gathering behind the dam, which is still under construction, but the water flowed abundantly through the dam's channels.
A Sudanese official estimated that the first stage involved collecting 4.9 billion cubic meters of water, knowing that Addis Ababa is seeking to fill the tank in three stages.
Ethiopia is due to complete construction of the dam in 2022.
"The quantity of 4.9 billion cubic meters of water was stored in Al-Nahda Dam Lake during the first stage of filling," said Ethiopian Minister of Water and Irrigation, Seleci Baqli, adding that "this amount did not affect the shares of the downstream countries of Egypt and Sudan."
"The completion of the initial filling of the Renaissance Dam is a historic achievement, as 4.9 billion cubic meters of water were stored at 10:00 pm on Tuesday," Baqali said in a tweet on Twitter.
He added that "the water flowed in large quantities on the central part of the main dam without the water shortage from the downstream countries Egypt and Sudan," according to Russia today.
He pointed out that "the results of the African mini-summit resulted in the necessity of reaching an agreement on all stages of filling and operating within a short period," noting that "the expected agreement will be comprehensive and sustainable, achieving a fair use of water."