GERD: Lifting The People High
T
he drive for Ethiopia to harness its hydrological potential is to meet its increasing demand for water due to population growth, to reduce the risk of prolonged drought and thereby lift its people out of poverty. Eventhough the country is highly dependent on rain-fed agriculture resulting in its vulnerability to climate change impacts and still ranks low in its human development, until recently, its impressive economic growth, its stable leadership as well as its attractiveness as a foreign investment hub has put Ethiopia in the limelight. At present, 74.5 per cent of the work of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which is located upstream of the major water users in Sudan and Egypt, is now complete and the first round of its storage reservoir has been filled successfully. GERD is a unique project that Ethiopians from all walks of life devote their energy, time, money and knowledge in order to take the desired road to development and prosperity. A major benefit of the Dam will be hydropower production. All energy generated from it will be going into the national grid of Ethiopia to fully support development in both rural and urban areas. The role of GERD will, therefore, be to act as a stabilizing backbone of the Ethiopian national grid. This is mainly expected to happen during rainy seasons, when there is plenty of water for hydropower generation.
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Abyssinia Business Nework // ABN
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We are quite sure to complete the project successfully for we have legal and natural right over the waters of the Great River that constitutes 85% of the Blue Nile.
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ልዩ እትም 2012 Special Edition of GERD 2020
