Ethiopia
began producing electricity for the first time from its Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam (GERD) – a massive hydropower plant on the Abay River that neighbours Sudan and Egypt say 'will
cause severe water shortages' downstream.
Ethiopia's
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially inaugurated electricity production on
Sunday from the mega-dam, a milestone in the controversial multibillion-dollar
project.
Abiy,
accompanied by high-ranking officials, toured the power generation station and
pressed a series of buttons on an electronic screen, a move officials said
initiated production.
The
prime minister sought to assure neighbouring nations his country did not wish
to harm their interests.
"Ethiopia's
major objective is to deliver light to 60 percent of the population who are in
the dark," Abiy stated, "to save the labor of our moms who carry wood
on their backs to acquire energy."
"As
you can see, this water will create energy while flowing to Sudan and Egypt as
it did previously, contrary to rumors that the Ethiopian people and government
are damming the river to starve Sudan and Egypt."
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This
general view shows the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in
Guba, Ethiopia, on February 19, 2022. Ethiopia’s massive hydro-electric dam
project on a tributary of the Nile has raised regional tensions notably with
Egypt, which depends on the huge river for 97 per cent of its water supply. Government
officials said the dam would begin producing electricity on Sunday, more than a
decade since work first started. Amanuel SILESHI / AFP
Egypt's
foreign ministry, on the other hand, accused Ethiopia of "persisting in
its breaches" of a preliminary agreement made between the three countries
in 2015, which forbade any of the parties from unilaterally using the river's
water.
The
first violations of the initial agreement related to the filling of the dam,
the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
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