PM extends invitations to leaders of Egypt, Sudan, other Nile riparian countries
After more than a decade of construction, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will be inaugurated in September 2025, according to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
"As the rains subside in late September, we will inaugurate the dam and I would like to convey before Parliament the invitation to Egypt and Sudan and all the other Nile riparian countries," he said during question time at Parliament today,
Ethiopia has been building the GERD since 2011 on Abbay River [Blue Nile] with ambitions to generate more than 5,000MW of electricity. The project, which has reportedly used up an estimated USD five billion in financing, has long been a source of unease for the lower riparian countries of Egypt and Sudan.
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Ethiopia says it needs the dam for its national development (more than half of Ethiopians live without reliable access to electricity), while Egypt and Sudan argue the project will impact their "historical" water rights.
The PM reiterated the Ethiopian government's stance that the GERD project has no intention of harming downstream countries and told MPs it will not cause any significant water shortages in Egypt.
"Not a single liter has been lost to Egypt due to the dam," he told lawmakers.
The 2015 Declaration of Principles (DoP) was a major milestone in the tripartite negotiations between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt, unequivocally reserving Ethiopia's right to carry on with the project in tandem with trilateral consultations.
A recently ratified Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) among the Nile riparian countries - Egypt and Sudan stayed out of the fold - is expected to lead to a top level inter-governmental authority that will determine the management and fair and reasonable utilization of the Nile waters.
Nile riparian countries have long held issue with the hegemonic use of the Nile waters by Egypt and Sudan in lieu of colonial period treaties of 1929 and 1959 through which the two countries share the annual flow between themselves, leaving zilch for upper riparian countries.
