Ethiopia: GERD's Dramatic Turnaround - How Abiy Rekindles National Optimism

Just ten years ago, Ethiopia has laid the cornerstone of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a project what many described as a gear changer and hallmark of Ethiopian reawakening. The project though widely used as propaganda and political machine by the then administration has indeed been a unifying figure for a country that has been going through unimaginable pain. However as much as the progress, the country has been suffering at the hands of few kleptocrats that put their interests before the nation.

The Ethiopian people were under the yoke of oppression for nearly three decades on the TPLF officials' watch. The group's crackdown on dissidents, journalists and politicians as well as the atrocities being committed in ethnic lines and others had already pushed the country into unchartered territory. As the heart of the public resentment was also GERD, the very project that many hoped would connect them to the grid.

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