By Rachel Mohamed
Ethiopia has officially inaugurated Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Blue Nile River. The dam’s construction has been contentious, with Egypt challenging its development given the shared dependency of Sudan and Egypt on the Nile River. Despite these contentions, its operation is expected to generate 6,000 megawatts, transforming Ethiopia into the continent’s largest power exporter.
Speaking to VOC News, Doctor Paul Kariuki, Executive Director of the Democracy Development Programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Convener at Africa Policy Circle (APC), said that this is a landmark development because, finally, after years of back and forth about who owns the dam and why it should be built in the first place, the establishment can be built around it.
Kariuki, however, cautioned that this development worked against Egyptian interests, pointing to years of Egyptian politicking to delay the dam’s development. For Kariuki, the development of the dam forces Egypt to pivot its international decorum to be part of the dam’s future.
“The dam has been inaugurated, and it’s kind of a sweet, bitter thing for Egypt because it’s almost like they’ve lost the fight they’ve been having in the first place to kind of stall the construction of the dam and influence the discussion in their favour because the contestation is around the shared use of water and the implications that it will have for Egypt because of the dam’s diversion. At this point, I believe Egypt needs to refine its own strategy for resuming these discussions,” said Kariuki.
Kariuki furthered that the dam’s development has strengthened Sudan’s position in relations with Egypt while bolstering their stature in Northern Africa.
“Egypt is the loser here, while Ethiopia wins and makes history,” concluded Kariuki.
Listen to the full interview:
VOC News
Photo: Pexels
