ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA — Ethiopia opened the Grand Renaissance Dam on Tuesday, making it Africa’s largest hydroelectric project. It was a big deal and a cause for celebration. The mega-dam, which cost about $5 billion and stands on a tributary of the River Nile near the Sudanese border, is a huge source of national pride. It is planned to produce more than 5,000 megawatts of energy, which would virtually double the country’s national generation capacity.
Ethiopians in traditional clothing gathered in Addis Ababa, the capital, to watch the ceremony on big screens. They danced and sang to celebrate the achievement. People think the dam is an important step toward improving the economy, stopping frequent blackouts, and even encouraging the usage of electric vehicles in a country that has outlawed the import of gasoline-powered cars.
“We will have enough power to charge our electric vehicles from the new dam,” said Belay Tigabu, a bus driver. Many people were hopeful about this. Yabsira Misganw, a college student, said that the new dam “will provide stable electricity and improve online services.” This shows how the project could change people’s daily lives.
At the opening ceremony, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called the dam a “big achievement” that shows what African countries can do. Many African heads of state and government came to the occasion, and many of them said they were interested in buying electricity from Ethiopia. Both South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and Kenya’s President William Ruto said that their countries want to sign agreements to buy power. President Ruto said the dam was “a pan-African statement” that fits with the African Union’s plan for connecting energy throughout the continent.
The Nile Dispute
Even though there is a lot of celebration and collaboration in the area, the dam is still very controversial, especially with Egypt next door. Egypt, which gets most of its water from the Nile for farming and for over 100 million people, has long been against the project because it fears it will take away a lot of its share of Nile River supplies.
Tamim Khallaf, a spokesperson for Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told The Associated Press that his government was very worried about the dam and called it a “existential threat.” He said that Ethiopia’s activities on their own, without “prior notification, proper consultations, or consensus with downstream countries,” are a “grave violation of international law.”
But Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seized the occasion to calm his neighbors. “I promise you that Ethiopia will never take away what is rightfully yours,” he declared. “Our brothers in Egypt, Sudan, or anywhere else are hungry, and so are we.” We have no plans to hurt anyone, so we need to share and grow together.
Ethiopia says that the dam will help the whole region by controlling the flow of the river and lowering the risk of flooding. However, there is still no legally binding agreement on how the dam will work. The opening ceremony shows not only Ethiopia’s hopes for technology and the economy, but also the lingering political tensions over the Nile’s important waters.