Ethiopia finally finishes a new dam in hopes of electricity, but border countries are demanding it be taken down.
Ethiopia, one of the largest countries in Africa, has recently built a dam. This dam is not only one of the top 20 largest dams in the world, but it can also generate up to 5150 megawatts of electricity, making it powerful enough to power over 1 million homes. However, it has sparked major conflict with some of the neighboring countries due to its size and impact.
The dam controls most of the water from the Nile River, but nearly 90% of Egypt’s water comes from the Nile. If the dam were to be activated, then the water flow to Egypt would be cut short, and there would be an extremely high risk of droughts. To resolve the issue, officials from these countries want to release the water behind the dam. However, if the water were to be released, major flooding would surge throughout Sudan, Egypt, and other neighboring countries.
Since 2011, Ethiopia has been attempting to build the dam to bring electricity to the entire country. For many years, almost half of the country lacked access to electricity, but with this dam, the electricity supply was expected to surge. Typical Ethiopian cities have a broad range of access, with almost everything being powered by electricity; however, rural cities have lacked access to electricity.
To solve this electricity problem, engineers began working on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) over a decade ago. Although it is vast and resourceful, many countries are trying to push it back down for this very reason. In the 1960s, Egypt built its own Aswan High Dam to increase water flow. Government officials fear that the GERD could interfere with the natural flow of the Nile to this dam.
Badr Abdelatty, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Egypt, has written to the UN council that this dam violated one of the many international laws. Ever since the announcement of the GERD’s construction, Egypt has opposed the idea from the start. They argued that they should be able to “take all the appropriate measures to defend and protect the interests of the Egyptian people.” Their point is that they want to take down the dam.
All Ethiopia can do is sit back and state that the dam does not pose a threat and will not take years of hard work away. Currently, no disruptions have been recorded regarding the dam yet. As proud as Ethiopia is about the GERD, they are concerned about how its neighboring countries handle the new change.
