Ethiopia announces completion of third filling of its mega-dam on Blue Nile

This file photo was taken on February 20, 2022, a general view of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam GERD in Guba, Ethiopia. AMANUEL SILESHI AFP ADDIS ABABA Ethiopia announced the completion of the third filling of its mega-dam on the Blue Nile.

It is with great pleasure to announce the completion of the third filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam GERD said Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Friday during a program at the dam site.

The announcement came a day after the East African nation launched electricity generation from the second turbine of the mega-dam.

The dam will create an enabling situation for integration between neighboring countries as Ethiopia starts selling power to them from the mega-dam, according to the prime minister.

The prime minister said that the Abay River Blue Nile is a gift for Ethiopia, Sudan and Ethiopia. He said that the resource, cooperation and unity should be shared among the three countries for the best benefit of their peoples and other neighboring nations.

The construction of the 5,150 MW hydroelectric dam, which will be considered Africa's largest dam at the end of the year, began in April 2011 on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia's Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, close to the Ethiopia-Sudan border.

Since then, the project has been a major issue of dispute among the three countries of Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Despite the countless tripartite negotiations between experts, ministers and leaders of the three African countries, they are yet to reach a trilateral agreement regarding the project.

Ethiopia reiterates that the dam will boost its development aspirations to reach middle-income developing country status by 2025. The dam will affect their share of the river, according to Egypt and Sudan.

READ MORE: Sisi says Egypt has committed to talks over Ethiopia s Nile dam.

The Blue Nile or Abay River is one of the two main headwaters of the Nile River, which rises from Lake Tana some 570 km north of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.