After 13 years of perseverance, hard work and endurance, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) lately well known as Abbay Dam is now nearing its long-awaited completion. It is said to have reached about 95 % of the total construction. Over the years so much has been said and written about the dam, the river, the people's feelings and commitment as well as the government's capability to properly discharge its completion.
As a result of the strange path followed to the realization, the whole process of the construction of the dam has left a historical, unique and inspirational fingerprint in the minds of the people and friends of Ethiopia.
It is estimated that there are more than 150,000 rivers in the world. This is even a very modest estimate and one can easily understand how they have spread on earth like blood vessels. It would not be an exaggeration to say that human life and all the civilization are highly related and intertwined with rivers. Rivers provide almost everything that humans and animals need for their survival. Rivers give us drinking water, irrigation water for crops, power for hydroelectric dams, and a place for recreation. They also help to control flooding and erosion.
Out of all those thousands of rivers, very few of them are mentioned through the global media, academia or institutions for specific reasons. One of such prominent rivers is the Nile. In terms of water regime, the Nile River is the second-largest river in the world next only to the River Amazon of Latin America. Even though it is sometimes contested, considering the long distance that it travels, the Nile is said to be the longest in the world with 6000 km.
No matter how the Nile has the above features that make it famous and prominent globally, it has been given a paradoxical attribute at home. As mentioned above rivers are almost the sources of everything for humans and nature in general. Yet this giant of the world's rivers has never done a little of such favour to the nearby people, especially in Ethiopia where the vast majority of its water originates from.
This north-flowing river is a transboundary water body that interconnects more than 10 countries in central, east and north Africa. Therefore, the utilization of the river is supposed to be regulated as per the provisions of transboundary rivers of the world.
However, taking advantage of colonial period agreements two of the downstream countries, Egypt and Sudan have been utilizing the water unfairly for decades. But Ethiopia has never been included in the colonial period agreements through which the two countries unfairly shared the entire water of the river.
But Ethiopia has never kept idle from looking for means of harnessing its water resources for its development purposes. In the past, it has carried out the construction of hydroelectric, irrigation and potable water dam constructions on other rivers via the financing of international donors or friendly nations as well as the project contracts taken up by foreign companies.
Contrarily such a way of utilizing the river Nile was impossible as the downstream countries posed diplomatic barriers to other countries and donors from providing financial and technical support. This was however a blessing in disguise. The government and people of Ethiopia were inspired to solicit the financing and technical requirements for the construction of the dam from the citizens and benevolent friends without knocking on the doors of foreign financiers or donors.
To make a long story short, what the downstream countries did to Ethiopia was to examine its latent potential for development. It has reminded Ethiopians, as well as many scholars and figures of developing countries that the best way to develop through one's natural resources is to be capable of harnessing it.
One can imagine the large amount of foreign currency a poor or developing country would spend to build such a big dam and spend the revenue for the coming decades on paying back the loan. But what makes Abbay Dam a pure asset is that the government has never taken a single penny in the form of a loan for the construction. This means all the income that the dam generates would be able to finance other development projects.
The other big takeaway from the more than decades spent on the construction of the dam is that many Ethiopians have been directly involved in it gaining a lot of experience and knowledge. This would in the long run encourage the country to compete continentally and globally in building similar infrastructure especially where there are political and diplomatic bottlenecks.
Even more than that the dam has created the spirit of capability in the minds of the people as many people are heard exclaiming the slogan "Yes we can" and "Possible" This theme now works in many other sectors that are not yet exploited but have the potential to revamp the development of the economy.
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The country is now executing many transformation development projects in all corners. Among such development projects are ecotourism sites, parks and resorts, manufacturing and agro-processing industrial parks ...etc. The majority of these projects are being executed with the finance raised through local initiatives like Dine for the nation, Dine for Sheger ... etc where concerned and benevolent citizens contribute the funding.
These projects are likely to generate a considerable sum of foreign currency as well as create jobs that are of high priority to the country of about 120 million people. The innovative way of selecting, designing and implementing the projects as well as soliciting the finance locally is a legacy that would be left to the future generation. It is also an outcome of the inspiration and experiences gained through the commitment given to the construction of the iconic Abbay Dam. This makes Abbay Dam unique in that it has started benefitting the people and the nation even before it is fully completed, and inaguraed.
Editor's Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
