By: Fistum Getachew
‘Abay,’ or the Blue Nile, is now no more a picture to be hung on the walls of Ethiopian homes in calendars or various works of art anyway. Today it is replaced by the majestic image of the GERD, the huge dam sprawling on a vast piece of land with a huge lake behind it! Definitely it is the biggest dam in Africa and one of the biggest in the world! And what is even more important is that it is a result of the efforts of all Ethiopians, built by their contribution without relying on foreign charity or loans. And it is expected to generate more than six thousand megawatts of electric power, enough to satisfy the current needs of Ethiopia and even be ready to be exported and be a source of income! What we can say at this juncture is congratulations to all those who have helped turn this dream into reality. Ethiopians of all walks of life will be grateful to you! Ethiopians should be proud of such an achievement, which can change their lives and their image in front of the world!
We can now say, at last, after almost 15 years, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, GERD, is approaching its official inauguration date. In fact, it was Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) who informed the MPs and the nation at large that the GERD is scheduled to be officially inaugurated this coming September! What a glorious piece of news!
Many people have compared this victorious event to historical milestones such as Adwa, the victory against colonialism, and the victory of poor nations against dominion and oppression. Finally, developing countries are showing to the world that they can exercise their rights to make full use of their natural resources if they gather their internal resources and act in unison with determination and commitment, as has been done in Ethiopia.
We have seen in the past that the premier has been at Guba, in the Benshangul Gumuz Region, a number of times, where the dam is sited, to visit and monitor the progress of the project. He closely followed up with the project so that it could be completed with the required standard and within the scheduled time frame, scrupulously using the earmarked budget.
The completion of the GERD has not been an easy task. It had to overcome a quantity of challenges, both natural and man-made. There were several forces that opposed its construction on the Nile. There were attempts and pressures to abort its completion. But Ethiopia has always invited all those who were contrary to this project with its doors wide open for any sort of negotiations. The premier has repeatedly reiterated that the only intention of Ethiopia is to use the water of the Nile to generate power and never to harm lower riparian countries, as the propaganda campaign of its adversaries claims and disseminates to the world.
There were attempts to sabotage the construction, and various methods were used to abort the work by creating issues of peace and security in the country and particularly in the area where the site of the GERD is positioned. The various complicated issues raised on its very existence had to be faced through uninterrupted diplomatic campaigns. The country also had to face not only financial issues regarding the project but also diplomatic and geopolitical challenges that had to be addressed before things could reach the current stage.
Giving elaborations to the MPs on what his government has done during the past years, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has talked about how his government has developed a new tradition of finishing projects in time once they are commenced, and one good example is the GERD. He noted that his government followed up on projects so that they saw the light of day in time with the required standard and quality, and most notably within the allotted budget. He has added that projects in the past have been initiated and not completed, with immense capital squandered or, worse still, stolen by corrupt officials!
On the same occasion, the premier raised the issue of the GERD and how it must be understood by not only Ethiopians but also the countries around it, particularly the Nile Basin countries. He once again seized the opportunity to reiterate Ethiopia’s case and the rationale behind the project and how it cannot be taken as an attempt to harm lower riparian countries but that it is exclusively aimed to produce enough clean hydropower to use not only for domestic purposes but also to avail other neighboring countries. In fact, currently Ethiopia sells electric power to Djibouti, Kenya, S. Sudan, and Tanzania, and there is a plan to extend this commercial venture to other markets. The GERD is important to enhance the efforts exerted to promote regional integration. The commercial exchanges between neighbors would eventually lead to meeting the objective of continental integration.
Accordingly, the premier announced that he was very happy to invite all Nile Basin country leaders, including those who have opposed the project or had reservations about its successful completion. One can say that he has shown magnanimity by inviting them despite their persistent campaigns of stiff protests against the dam and their relentless attempts to sabotage the construction, alleging excuses such as the danger and threats to their very existence, which, of course, were unfounded and baseless.
It is to be remembered that his government has relentlessly tried to convince all those who were openly siding with Egypt and their allies (and still does) that the allegations were far from true. Ethiopian diplomats have been very busy working day and night in this endeavor, explaining the rationale behind the project and that the claims against Ethiopia’s presumed ill intentions to inflict irreparable damage to lower riparian countries were totally false. They have campaigned using even social media, stating that constructing this huge and vital dam was indispensable to guarantee the country’s prospects of continuing to live in peace and prosperity with its ever-growing economy and its increasing population. Ultimately, we have seen that all the various appeals made to the international community and organizations such as the UN to stop the project on the grounds of the presumed ill intentions of Ethiopia have failed.
Abiy said that it was a huge achievement to showcase to the entire world that Ethiopia can begin and complete such a huge project, strategically very important to continue with its relentless efforts aimed at expanding the trajectory of growth towards prosperity. For the realization of such a mega project, it is imperative that every citizen, be it at home or abroad, including the diaspora, be united under one flag and one objective. In other words, the moral and financial contribution of everybody was indispensable, the premier underlined.
Unity of purpose among Ethiopians constituted the force and might to continue with the project and reach the current stage. The term he is most fond of using at any similar occasion is ‘Medemer,’ or synergy, roughly translated. He sees it as a powerful weapon to fight and defeat poverty and serve as a launching pad to jump into the trajectory of growth, progress, and prosperity.
That is why GERD for Ethiopia means lots of things at the same time. However, GERD is the reassertion of Ethiopia’s sovereign rights on its national resources, dismissing all previous prohibitions and limitations on exercising its legitimate rights to exploit the full potential of its natural resources, one of which is the water of the Nile.
GERD has presented the occasion to make it known to all, friends and foes alike, that there can’t be restrictions on the way a sovereign country such as Ethiopia today could use its natural resources while its nationals are struggling in their day-to-day lives in the poverty of darkness. After all, Ethiopia’s history is a testimony to this reality because a united Ethiopia has always inflicted defeat against forces that have tried to encroach on its sovereignty and territorial integrity, even before colonial times came to exist.
GERD has hence transmitted a very fundamental message to the world. Even poor countries such as Ethiopia can break against the belief that they should always live submitting to the threats and intimidations by countries that believe they are above international principles and practice or use their military might to prevent them from using their naturally endowed resources on any ground or pretext whatsoever! It has also shown to the world that African countries should not always rely on foreign assistance or grants to begin and finish a huge project such as the GERD. This exemplary venture can be replicated in other ‘developing countries.’
The monopoly of the use of the Nile waters by a few states cannot continue forever while the country that gives birth to it is watching the water flow by without being harnessed and used. In fact, Ethiopia has been distracted by many internal historical developments that did not allow it to focus on developing projects on the use of the Nile waters. Many people have even accused the past successive governments of Ethiopia of not attempting to exploit the resource of the Nile to help change the country.
Today that mistake or distraction has been corrected, and after a huge economic sacrifice, there will be light all across Ethiopia. Ethiopians will make the best out of it to defeat poverty and get introduced to the 21st-century level of life.
