Ethiopian PM says the dam will electrify the entire region but Egypt fears it could restrict water supply during droughts
Ethiopia has officially inaugurated Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam, a project that will provide energy to millions of Ethiopians while deepening a rift with downstream Egypt that has unsettled the region.
Ethiopia, the continent’s second most populous nation with more than 120 million people, sees the $5bn (£3.7bn) Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam (Gerd) on a tributary of the Nile River as central to its economic ambitions. The dam’s power has gradually increased since the first turbine was turned on in 2022, reaching its maximum capacity of 5,150MW on Tuesday. That puts it among the 20 biggest hydroelectric dams in the world – about one-quarter of the capacity of China’s Three Gorges dam.
