The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is currently releasing five times more water to downstream than the volume flowing before the GERD reservoir held water, said Ethiopian Minister of Water and Energy, Habtamu Itefa(PhD).
The minister along with ministers and journalists from Nile Basin countries made a visit to the GERD Project.
Speaking to EBC after the visit, the minister said that there had been allegations that the dam is hurting downstream countries. "We showed the reality on the ground," he said.
"The visitors were impressed by what they saw. With how the GERD has progressed. They appreciated the way the project has been undertaken. They also hailed how we managed the water. Before the GERD reservoir held water, a fifth of the volume flowing now was flowing downstream. Despite the allegations from the other side, this is the reality on the ground. The increase in volume is due to the regulated flow of the river," Minister Habtamu explained.
Few days before the visit, Egypt targeted officials from Nile Basin countries, who came for marking the Nile Day 2025 in Addis and lobbied not to visit the GERD. Egypt Independent reported that Egyptian Irrigation Minister, Hani Sweilem, pushed the ministers for the cancelation of the visit to GERD by minsters.
Nevertheless, the officials including five ministers of Nile Basin visited the GERD and witnessed that the GERD is inflicting no harm downstream. "Thank you Dr Habtamu Itefa for organizing the visit and letting us walk through the facts," said Water Minister of South Sudan, Paul Mai Deng.
The GERD, according to Paul Mai does not only benefit Ethiopian people, but the region as a whole.
Pleased with the GERD Project progress, the Sudanese minister said "Ethiopia has become the lighting house of the region. This is a big achievement."
Emphasizing the benefit the GERD, East African country's multi- billion dollar project brings to the region, he told four of the visiting ministers and 8 journalists from Nile basin countries that clean energy like the GERD generates is key to regional transformation.
"For us within the River Nile basin, we want to transform our economies. The key to this is renewable energy. Ethiopia has now made a shift. We cannot transform a country without power. Agriculture, manufacturing, or every aspect of development is linked to power," he stressed.
Among the questions the visitors raised was the mystery behind mobilizing Ethiopians towards the colossal cause - the GERD. And reacting to this astonishment, Minister Habtamu said the project was planned by Emperor Hailesilassie, but he couldn't secure funds from global partners and lenders for the project due to downstream intervention. But the Emperor told lenders that Ethiopians would build it one day, Habtamu said.
And driven by repentance, and commitment from the leadership, this generation could be mobilized at large scale to realize the Dam, he said. "Ethiopians from every walk of life: school children, farmers, merchants, etc. gave been contributing in money and in kind with a sense of ownership to the common cause."
After completing the site visit, visitors were briefed by GERD Project General Manager, Kifle Horo (Ing.) On the overall progress of the project, including key milestones. While 6 units are currently operational, two units are being erected and the other two under commissioning. The commissioning of the last unit will come by the third quarter of 2025.
Kifle also told some major benefits of GERD to downstream countries. There will be significant energy uplift in downstream countries due to regulated flow, he said.
Regional integration, capital savings, water savings, water management, reduction of greenhouse gas are among the benefits list of GERD to downstream states.
He also indicated that Ethiopia is committed to regional integration by contributing through power export. “Ethiopia is currently exporting about 500MW electric power to Kenya, Sudan and Djibouti," Kifle said.
Through joint development endeavors, the Nile Basin has the potential to generate 30,000 MW electric power and from Abay Basin alone, 10,000MW energy production is possible, it was indicated.