Ethiopia’s mega-dam on the Nile is “now total”, Top Minister says

Ethiopia’s Top Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Thursday that a controversial multi-billion-greenback mega-dam on the Blue Nile used to be now total. 

Abiy told lawmakers that the dam would be inaugurated in September.  

The completion of the project, identified as the Gargantuan Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), is a serious milestone for the nation. 

The construction began in 2011 with a $4 billion funds. The dam is positioned about 500 kilometres northwest of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

With its 1,800 metres long and 175 metres high, it is now the ideal in Africa. It is backed by a reservoir that may perhaps well prolong to 74 billion cubic metres of water, in accordance with the fundamental contractor.

The project became a source of tensions with neighbouring Egypt and Sudan, over equitable sharing of the water.  

Egypt said the dam would exhaust its fraction of Nile River waters, and has referred to it as an existential threat. 

Negotiations between Ethiopia and Egypt over the years accumulate no longer led to an settlement. Questions remain about how exceptional water Ethiopia will originate downstream if a drought occurs.  

Speaking in parliament, Abiy said his nation “remains committed to establishing particular that our advise does no longer come at the expense of our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers and sisters.”

“We consider in shared progress, shared vitality, and shared water”, he said. “Prosperity for one ought to indicate prosperity for all.”

The dam began producing strength in 2022. It is expected to in the waste form over 6,000 megawatts of electricity, double Ethiopia’s new output. 

The nation insists the dam is a very crucial building that will assist pull millions of its residents out of poverty and change staunch into a serious strength exporter.

Linked articles