Touted as Africa’s largest hydroelectric project, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was officially inaugurated on Tuesday, September 9.
Costing $4.2 billion, the GERD has a storage capacity of 74 billion cubic meters of water and a production capacity of 5,150 megawatts. It is expected to reshape relations among the Nile Basin countries, particularly Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Djibouti’s President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir Mayardit, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Kenyan leader William Samoei Ruto, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, and Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini.
Also present were Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chair of the African Union Commission, and Claver Gatete, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Speaking at the inauguration, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reiterated that his country’s intention was not to harm any of its neighbors and emphasized that the dam is focused on reviving economies and improving the quality of life for the people of the Horn of Africa. He stated that the project was entirely financed through national sources, including crowdsourcing, domestic fundraising, bond sales, and employee salary contributions.
