The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a massive hydroelectric infrastructure built on the Blue Nile, will be officially inaugurated in September, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on Monday. This flagship project, which has been a major source of tension with Egypt and Sudan, is expected to eventually generate one billion dollars in annual revenue for Ethiopia.
Launched in 2011 at an estimated cost of 4 billion dollars, GERD is presented as the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa. It measures 1.8 kilometers in width and 145 meters in height, with a planned production capacity of 5,000 megawatts, double Ethiopia’s current capacity.
“We expect one billion dollars per year thanks to the dam. This money will be used to finance other projects,” said Abiy Ahmed in an interview broadcast on public media. He also promised similar future projects “in the next five, ten, or fifteen years,” asserting the country’s ability to fulfill its energy ambitions.
Located about thirty kilometers from the Sudanese border, the dam has raised concerns in Khartoum and Cairo, which have denounced it as a unilateral project threatening their water access.
Egypt, which relies on the Nile for 97% of its water needs, has described GERD as an “existential threat.”
“Many of our friends have expressed concerns; some even went so far as to threaten us before the UN Security Council,” the Prime Minister recalled. “But the dam hasn’t caused Sudan or Egypt to lose a single drop of water. We do not want it to be a source of concern.”
With nearly 130 million inhabitants and a rapidly growing population, Ethiopia is facing increasing energy demand. According to the World Bank, nearly 60 million Ethiopians still lacked access to electricity at the start of 2025. GERD is therefore seen in Addis Ababa as a key driver for economic development and energy self-sufficiency.