breaking point
This is part 3 of a 5-part series
As its name indicates, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will usher in a new era for Ethiopia and the entire Horn of Africa region.
With a hydropower production capacity of 6,450 megawatts (MW), or three times the Aswan dam’s, the GERD will be unrivalled on the continent outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Inga III, once the Congo River project is completed.
READ MORE Dear Ethiopia...
The new dam will ensure Ethiopia’s energy independence while exporting upwards of $800m worth of electricity annually to the country’s neighbours in Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan.
To tame the Blue Nile, a tributary of the Nile that carries about two-thirds of the river’s water volume, Ethiopia has poured close to $6bn into the project, or almost half the government’s annual budget.
READ MORE Dear Egypt...
Nearly 80% complete to date, the dam’s construction is expected to require a total of 10 metric tonnes of concrete to build a wall 175 metres high and around 2 km long. Its reservoir will have a volume of 79 km3 (approaching the Nile’s total annual flow of approximately 85 km3) and a surface area of more than 1,500 km2.
The article continues below
Free download
Get your free PDF: Top 200 banks 2019
The race to transform
Complete the form and download, for free, the highlights from The Africa Report’s Exclusive Ranking of Africa’s top 200 banks from last year. Get your free PDF by completing the following form
To be able to start producing electricity as rapidly as possible, Ethiopia is eyeing a seven-year filling timeline, whereas Egypt has a longer period of 12 to 20 years in mind. Some experts say that the GERD could reduce the river’s annual flow by 25% and prevent fertile silt from flowing to the Nile Delta.
LISTEN GERD: 1959 Egypt/Sudan treaty -‘The worst agreement Khartoum could have signed’
Under a 1959 water allocation agreement, Egypt’s share of water amounts to 55.5 billion cubic metres (bcm), while Sudan’s is 18.5 bcm, corresponding to about 90% of the river’s annual flow.
Some 85% of Egypt’s fresh water comes from sources in the Ethiopian Highlands.
Understand Africa's tomorrow... today
We believe that Africa is poorly represented, and badly under-estimated. Beyond the vast opportunity manifest in African markets, we highlight people who make a difference; leaders turning the tide, youth driving change, and an indefatigable business community. That is what we believe will change the continent, and that is what we report on. With hard-hitting investigations, innovative analysis and deep dives into countries and sectors, The Africa Report delivers the insight you need.
View subscription options