From Haile Selassie to crowdfunding, how Ethiopia’s GERD dam was born

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Abdulhakim Shamsuddin was 14 and successful precocious schoolhouse successful the metropolis of Dire Dawa erstwhile helium archetypal heard that helium could lend to the gathering of a dam connected the Blue Nile.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, known by its acronym GERD, was pitched arsenic Ethiopia’s astir ambitious infrastructure venture, which promised to harness the river’s powerfulness to propel Ethiopia to reliable vigor entree and prosperity.

From imagination to design

The earliest mentions of a program to physique a dam crossed the Nile day backmost to the aboriginal 1900s erstwhile the United Kingdom and Italy, large assemblage powers successful northeast Africa, considered and past abandoned plans to physique 1 on the Blue Nile successful the northwest of the country.

The thought gained momentum aft the United States withdrew backing for the Aswan Dam from an progressively assertive, pro-Soviet Egypt successful the 1950s. Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, the US’s main African ally, commissioned the US Bureau of Reclamation to survey imaginable sites for a dam.

“However generously Ethiopia whitethorn beryllium prepared to stock this tremendous God-given wealthiness of hers with affable neighbouring countries,” Selassie said successful 1957, “it is Ethiopia’s superior and ineffable work to make her h2o resources successful the involvement of her ain rapidly expanding colonisation and economy.”

These plans were met with interest successful Egypt and Sudan, which were disquieted that a large dam could trim the river’s travel and the magnitude of freshwater disposable for irrigation and different uses.

In 1929, the UK, which past ruled Sudan, concluded a pact with Egypt that gave Cairo the largest allocation of the Nile’s waters and a artifact connected upstream operation projects. After Sudan’s independency successful 1956, it agreed a caller pact with Egypt successful 1959 that fundamentally established their exclusive power implicit Nile h2o usage portion excluding different riparian states from decision-making.

Ethiopia wasn’t a enactment to either statement and rejected both. “Despite contributing truthful overmuch to the river, Ethiopia uses virtually nary of it,” wrote Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who served arsenic Ethiopia’s overseas curate from 2012 to 2016.

INTERACTIVE - The Nile and colonial-era h2o treaties NILE GERD-1757338154

As antithetic Ethiopian governments came and went implicit the pursuing decades, the thought for a dam laic dormant until it was taken up by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a left-wing conjugation of respective taste parties that formally launched the task successful April 2011 to overmuch fanfare.

Zenawi, who led the EPRDF, believed “development was a substance of nationalist survival”. Bereket Simon, an accusation curate successful 2014, said “poverty and backwardness are the fig 1 enemy” and called for the state to beryllium connected a warfare footing.

To this end, the authorities sought to make conditions successful which poorness could beryllium eradicated by facilitating growth, which progressive expanding healthcare, acquisition and infrastructure and, crucially, enhancing entree to energy.

“The Ethiopia we inherited was acheronian and rural,” Mulugeta Gebrehiwot, an Ethiopia researcher astatine the World Peace Foundation, a bid probe institute astatine Tufts University successful the US, who besides worked successful the authorities successful the precocious 1990s, told Al Jazeera. To this day, contempt large advances, astir 60 million Ethiopians person nary electricity.

INTERACTIVE - Electricity crossed Africa Nile GERD-1757338140

Hydropower leader

Ethiopia is considered “Africa’s h2o tower” due to the fact that of the generous precipitation it enjoys and its galore rivers, and hydropower would play a ample relation successful remedying its chronic vigor shortages. Several dams were completed successful the aboriginal 2000s, making the state Africa’s starring hydroelectricity producer. But the thought of constructing a acold larger dam crossed the Nile truly began to instrumentality signifier lone successful the precocious 2000s.

“Around the precocious 2000s, the method capacity, governmental volition and fiscal conditions aligned to alteration the then-ruling EPRDF to kick-start construction,” said Biruk Terrefe, a lecturer connected African authorities astatine the University of Bayreuth successful Germany who researches infrastructure projects.

After laying GERD’s archetypal cornerstone successful 2011, Zenawi said successful a speech: “No substance however mediocre we are, successful the Ethiopian traditions of resolve, the Ethiopian radical volition wage immoderate sacrifice.”

The overwhelming bulk of the dam was funded done Ethiopia’s authorities institutions, but an authoritative told authorities media that from 2023 to 2024 unsocial an estimated 1.712 cardinal birr (roughly $21m) was raised by Ethiopians. From 2022 to 2025, different authoritative said, Ethiopia’s diaspora contributed $10m.

Public assemblage workers contributed parts of their salaries, and bonds were issued to Ethiopians who wished to lend. The main connection astir GERD was that it would beryllium funded wholly astatine home.

“These contributions weren’t coming from radical with heavy pockets. The nationalist rallied down the task due to the fact that they believed it would alteration the country’s future,” Mulugeta said.

Abdifatah Hussein Abdi, an MP with the ruling Prosperity Party successful the determination parliament of Ethiopia’s Somali state, a historically marginal region, said helium forfeited astir 3 to 4 percent of his wage for the task portion moving successful the municipality of Jigjiga for much than a decade. “There were regular energy shortages successful my district, and I wanted to help, but besides connected a nationalist level, we felt it would determination the state forward,” helium told Al Jazeera.

Musa Sheko Mengi, a salient activistic rallying enactment for GERD successful the capital, Addis Ababa, said helium has invested successful fractional a twelve bonds due to the fact that helium considers the dam a “gateway to hope” for Ethiopia.

“Most of our citizens unrecorded successful darkness. We anticipation this dam volition people the opening of a caller epoch successful Ethiopia,” helium said.

“The dam has had the unsocial powerfulness to galvanise Ethiopians contempt large interior responsibility lines,” Terrefe told Al Jazeera. “It’s been a root of corporate pridefulness crossed the governmental spectrum for galore who person contributed to its construction.”

Debt, delays and governmental roadblocks

Zenawi died successful 2012, a twelvemonth aft the operation of GERD started. His tenure was characterised by accelerated maturation but besides large repression, and aft his death, the EPRDF began to fragment.

The state besides accumulated unsustainable amounts of overseas indebtedness to money different infrastructure projects, which jeopardised the state-led exemplary of development.

Abiy came to powerfulness successful 2018 promising “deep reform”, including opening Ethiopia’s system to the backstage assemblage and allowing greater governmental freedoms.

Although the dam was astir two-thirds implicit erstwhile helium took office, advancement connected the task faced superior setbacks successful his aboriginal years. Just 4 months aft Abiy came to power, the dam’s main engineer, Simegnew Bekele, was recovered dormant successful the centre of the capital. Police said helium died by suicide.

Abiy blamed galore of Ethiopia’s problems connected the erstwhile government, which was dominated by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and methodically removed officials helium believed were adjacent to the enactment from office. This included dozens of officials successful state-run companies that were contracted to implicit parts of the dam who were arrested successful 2018 connected corruption charges.

At the time, Abiy said the task mightiness instrumentality up to a decennary to implicit astatine the complaint it was moving.

A NEW ERA OFFICIALLY UNFOLDS

Abbay stream said YES to its motherland!🇪🇹#GERD by the large people!
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam for the large people!
The opening of the Ethiopia's renewal era! pic.twitter.com/OJZLFjQLC2

— Fana Media Corporation S.C. (FMC) (@fanatelevision) September 9, 2025

Conflicts besides dispersed crossed the country, culminating successful the two-year Tigray war, which began successful November 2020 and became 1 of the deadliest conflicts of the 21st period with immoderate estimates placing the decease toll arsenic precocious arsenic 600,000.

Despite further delays and backing shortages, the GERD was yet completed successful July though it has been generating powerfulness since 2022. In 2024, the dam was gathering 16 percent of Ethiopia’s energy needs, according to officials moving connected it.

Officials moving connected the dam estimated that it could make up to $1bn successful gross done vigor exports.

‘Threat’ to the region?

Although Ethiopian officials person repeatedly insisted that the dam volition not harm the interests of downstream countries, this has not alleviated their concerns. Egypt and Sudan fearfulness it could undermine their entree to the stream and person knock-on impacts for agriculture and municipality h2o supplies. They issued a associated connection past week describing the dam arsenic a “threat”.

Sudan has 2 large tributaries of the Nile wrong its borders, which merge successful Khartoum. Egypt, by contrast, relies astir wholly connected the azygous stream aft this confluence for much than 90 percent of its freshwater and has tended to instrumentality a stronger presumption connected Ethiopia’s dam.

In 2013, Mohamed Kamel Amr, who was Egypt’s overseas curate astatine the time, enactment it starkly erstwhile helium said: “No Nile, nary Egypt”. Successive Egyptian presidents from Gamal Abdel Nasser to Mohamed Morsi person adjacent threatened subject enactment if an statement is not reached betwixt the countries connected just h2o usage.

INTERACTIVE - How galore radical unrecorded on the Nile GERD graphic-1757409360

Talks person been stop-start since the task began successful 2011, but they person not produced an statement that addresses the concerns of each parties. A tiny breakthrough took spot successful 2015 erstwhile a declaration of principles was signed, recognising Ethiopia’s close to physique the dam and committing the 3 countries to equitable use, nary important harm and further agreements connected filling and operation.

But this wasn’t followed up, and by July 2020, Ethiopia began its archetypal filling of the GERD’s reservoir, which is estimated to beryllium astir the size of Greater London.

“Egypt is seeking a just strategy to modulate usage of the Nile, particularly during drought years, arsenic the state needs a minimum flow,” said Abbas Shakary, a geologist astatine Cairo University. It is already 1 of the world’s driest countries and is struggling with h2o scarcity owed to rising temperatures.

In the past, the large sticking constituent was however accelerated the dam would beryllium filled. That contented and the dam’s beingness much broadly are present “a fait accompli”, said Biruk Terrefe, the authorities lecturer.

“The underlying struggle is astir spot and the incompatible humanities claims connected the Nile,” helium added. “Ideally, the adjacent measurement would beryllium to re-engage multilaterally done the Nile Basin Initiative, the African Union and different determination players.”