A long-awaited day, after 11 years of hard work and negotiations with Egypt and Sudan. Ethiopia officially launched, on February 20, 2022, the production of electricity from its Grand Renaissance Dam (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, GERD)on the Blue Nile.
This is “the birth of a new era”launched the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed by lighting the first turbine of the GERD. “This day, for which Ethiopians have sacrificed so much, for which Ethiopians have hoped so much, for which they have prayed so much, this day is finally here”he added while presiding over the short launch ceremony.
When the project was launched, each civil servant was asked to contribute one month’s salary to the financing of the dam. Subsequently, many government loans had also strained the savings of Ethiopians.
Since its launch, the dam has been contested by the countries downstream of the Nile, who want to keep control of the waters of the river and its flow. The many negotiations over the past ten years have never really resulted in an agreement, even if the three countries concerned by the dam have brought their points of view a little closer together.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry regretted on February 20 that “Ethiopia persists in its violations of the signed 2015 Declaration of Principles” between the three countries and providing for the search for a negotiated solution. Seized last summer, the UN had recommended that they continue their talks under the aegis of the African Union (AU).
Cairo and Khartoum, worried about their water supply, had asked Addis Ababa to stop filling the dam. Ethiopia had nevertheless proceeded in July 2021 to the second phase of filling the dam, announced as one of the largest in Africa with an initial production target of 6,500 megawatts, revised downwards to 5,000 MW, i.e. double of Ethiopia’s current production.
“As you see, this water generates energy and then continues to flow as before to Sudan and Egypt, contrary to rumors that the Ethiopians wanted to block the water to starve them.”
Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopian Prime Ministerat AFP
“This is good news for our continent and for the downstream countries with which we aspire to work together,” added the Ethiopian Prime Minister on Twitter. “This great dam was built by the Ethiopians, but for the benefit of all Africans, for all our brothers and sisters in Africa to benefit from it”said a senior official attending the inauguration.
Getachew Reda, spokesperson for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been at war with government forces since November 2020 in the north of the country, accused Mr. Abiy of taking credit for a project launched under a government then led by the Tigrayans. Various Ethiopian officials, however, have praised Abiy Ahmed’s efforts to complete funding for a long-dragging and near-failure project.
“Our country has lost so much, especially financially, due to the delays in the works”, underlined the general manager of the project Kifle Horo during his opening remarks. Delays due in particular to threats from Egypt and Sudan, which opposed the construction of this dam. Cairo invoked a “historical law” on the river and “a right of veto” preventing any construction project. In 1959, after an agreement with Khartoum on water sharing, Egypt had allocated a quota of 66% of the annual flow of the Nile, against 22% for Sudan.
A few months ago, the Egyptian president threatened the region with a water war if the Great Dam built by Ethiopia on the Nile deprived Egypt “with a single drop of water”.
Not being a party to these agreements, Ethiopia has never considered itself bound by them and, in 2010, a new treaty signed by the countries of the Nile basin, which originates in Uganda, removed the right Egyptian veto and authorized irrigation projects and hydroelectric dams.
According to Ethiopian state media, the initial production of the GERD is around 375 MW with the commissioning of a first turbine, out of the thirteen of the entire dam. A second turbine should be started within a few months, and the whole dam should be fully operational in 2024, Kifle Horo told AFP.