Addis Abeba — Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has publicly pushed back against claims that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was financed by the United States or other foreign actors, stating that the flagship project was completed without Ethiopia taking "a single birr" in external loans or foreign aid.
The Prime Minister made the remarks while responding to questions during a regular session of the House of Peoples' Representatives (HoPR) on Tuesday, marking the first time he has directly addressed, in a parliamentary setting, recent rhetoric alleging foreign financing of the dam.
GERD is a historic national project realized entirely through the sacrifice, determination, and contributions of the Ethiopian people, Abiy told lawmakers, emphasizing that both citizens at home and members of the diaspora financed the project through bond purchases, donations, and other forms of support.
He described the completion of GERD as a reflection of what he called the "heroic stance" of Ethiopians, underscoring that the dam stands as a symbol of national self-reliance rather than external dependency.
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Abiy's remarks come amid recent rhetoric surrounding the project. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly made false claims asserting that the United States financed GERD and that the dam has reduced downstream Nile flows to Egypt.
In a post on his Truth Social platform last summer, Trump described GERD as a "massive Ethiopian-built dam, stupidly financed by the United States of America," alleging that it had "substantially reduce[d] the water flowing into the Nile River."
Ethiopian has consistently rejected such assertions, maintaining that GERD has been domestically financed and is designed to regulate, not reduce, downstream water flows, a position supported by independent technical assessments.
During the parliamentary session, the Prime Minister also pointed to Ethiopia's broader hydropower ambitions, noting that GERD, now Africa's largest dam, is not the country's final undertaking in the energy sector. He said construction of the Koysha Hydroelectric Project, expected to become the third-largest power plant in Africa, is currently underway.
Ethiopia formally inaugurated the completion of GERD in September 2025, following more than a decade of construction that unfolded amid regional tensions and prolonged diplomatic disputes with downstream countries. AS
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