Ethiopia: Mega damn near Blue nile completed

Ethiopian Prime minister Abiy Ahmed announced a multi-billion-dollar mega dam on the Blue Nile that has raised uneasiness within its neighbouring countries, according to a report by al-monitor via aljazeera on July 3rd.

The grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which was a project that was launched in 2011 with a $4-billion budget, is considered by many as Africa’s massive hydroelectric project stretching to 1.8 kilometres wide and 475 feet high.

Addis Ababa a capital of Ethiopia states that it is vital for the electrification programme, but it has been a source of tensions within downstream nations such as Egypt and Sudan who worries that this project could affect their water supplies.

Abiy states to his parliament that GERD ‘’is now complete and we are preparing for its official inauguration’’.

He further added ‘’To our neighbours downstream- Egypt and Sudan- our message is clear: The Renaissance dam is not a threat but a shared opportunity.’’

‘’The energy and development it will generate stand to uplift not just Ethiopia’’ Prime minster Abiy further states.

The country of Ethiopia first began generating electricity at the project, located in the North-west of the country roughly 30 kilometres from the border of Sudan, in February 2022. At full capacity the massive dam can hold as much as 74 billion cubic metres of water and could generate more than 5,000 megawatts of power, that is more than double the current output of Ethiopia.

The east African nation of Ethiopia has the second most populate in the continent which is rapidly growing with a clear estimate of roughly 130 million people and has growing needs for electricity. Around half of its people are currently living without electricity in accordance with a statement from World Bank.

This Inauguration is set for September 2025 which high anticipations from the Ethiopian government. Although this project hosts many hopes for the future of Ethiopia, it is being met with oppositions from neighbouring countries such as Sudan and Egypt voicing their concerns towards the project of GERD without a three-way agreement between countries.

With fears that GERD ‘s operation might strip Egypt and Sudan from vital Nile waters. Deals have yet to be agreed upon on.

Fears of Egypt, which is still worried severe water scarcity, sees GERD as an existential threat because it relies on Nile for 97% of its water needs.

Previously, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burham met and ‘’stressed their rejection of any unilateral measures in the Blue Nile Basin.’’

A statement from Sisi’s spokesman, the two countries both Egypt and Sudan are committed to ‘’Safeguard water security’’ in the region.

However, Prime minister Abiy stated to Addis Ababa is ‘’Willing to engage constructively’’ further adding that the project will ‘’not come at the expense of’’ of either Egypt or Sudan.

‘’We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water’’ Abiy states.

‘’Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all’’ he further added.

Al-monitor via Aljazeera, Maghrebi.