Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, announced on Thursday that the long-debated Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile will be officially inaugurated within the next six months.
Speaking before parliament, Abiy declared, “In the next six months, we will cut a ribbon together,” without providing further details. He added that the dam’s inauguration would mark a historic event at the beginning of the next Ethiopian year, which starts around September.
The $4.2 billion dam, located in northwestern Ethiopia about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Sudanese border, has been central to Ethiopia’s electrification ambitions but has also been a source of tension with downstream nations, Egypt and Sudan.
GERD began generating electricity in February 2022. Once fully operational, the massive structure—stretching 1.8 kilometers in length and standing 145 meters high, with a reservoir capacity of up to 74 billion cubic meters—could generate over 5,000 megawatts of power. This would make it Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam and more than double Ethiopia’s current power output.
However, Egypt and Sudan have long expressed concerns about Ethiopia operating the dam without a binding agreement, fearing it could disrupt their access to crucial Nile waters. Repeated negotiations have failed to resolve the dispute.
Egypt, which depends on the Nile for 97% of its water needs and already faces severe water shortages, views the dam as an existential threat. Meanwhile, Sudan’s stance has shifted over the years, especially as the country remains embroiled in civil conflict.
Ethiopia, however, insists that GERD will not significantly impact the volume of water flowing downstream.
