World Reframed 8: 'Much more than a dam', Ethiopia pitches GERD as an African triumph. Video

"We will not waste time talking about yesterday's history; talking about the Nile; talking about the Renaissance; talking about the dawn. This file is now closed."

That was the prime minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed giving a speech about the opening of a massive new dam on the Nile.

But he didn't keep his promise. Because the GERD is part of history. Here's why: 

What's in a name?

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, isn't like other dams. Mostly they are named for the places where they are located - China’s Three Gorges Dam or the Itaipu Dam on the border of Paraguay and Brazil. Sometimes they do get a name to honour a historical figure - The Boulder Dam in the US was renamed the Hoover Dam.

But this one carries the name of the country. Sandwiched in between Grand and Renaissance. So you can tell straight away this is intended to be a BIG Deal.

In numbers

It’s the biggest hydroelectric project in Africa, expected to be able to produce more than 5,000 megawatts, that’s around the same level as five nuclear reactors. And about double what Ethiopia produced previously. The reservoir behind it can hold around 74 billion cubic meters of water. That’s almost as big as Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Put another way, it’s enough water to supply the needs of New York City for around half a century. And all that for the modest sum of $5 billion dollars.

What's not to like?

Not everyone is happy. Egypt’s reaction to the dam has ranged from furious to very angry to absolutely apoplectic. The Nile accounts for around 90% of the water supply and is relied upon by almost 120 million Egyptians. When the dam project was first announced, some in Egypt even threatened military action and there was talk of sabotaging the construction.

Relations thawed in 2014 and the various parties - Sudan is also heavily involved, although not quite as angry as Egypt - came to an deal, agreeing to cooperate on water use. Egypt still wasn’t exactly happy though.

So Cairo went on to seek mediation from the US and the World Bank and even the UN Security Council. Ultimately, Ethiopia stood its ground and said basically: "Our country, our water!" and continued building the dam and filling the reservoir. Egypt issued more warnings, tried to get Sudan on board and is still talking about the dam as a threat to its national security. And while both sides say they want a solution, there doesn’t seem any immediate prospect of that happening because Ethiopia would have to agree to giving up at least some control over how it could use the dam.

A regional asset

Which brings us back to the fact that it’s called an Ethiopian Dam, which certainly implies sovereignty. It is seen as a genuine part of the Renaissance of the country. And the government is so confident in the transformation that it will deliver that it has even banned import of petrol vehicles so it can switch to electric cars powered by green Ethiopian energy.

Other neighbouring countries are also pretty excited, because electricity is a precious commodity in Africa, which is home to the bulk of the 660 million people in the world without access to electric power. And, of course, hundreds of millions more have unstable and unreliable supplies. So Kenya and other countries are eager to up their imports from Ethiopia now the dam is up and running.

Kenya’s president William Ruto was among the high profile leaders at the dam’s inauguration this week, praising it as an African initiative. A less expected presence was the prime minister of Barbados - but the message there was that this is not only an African success but something developing nations around the world can aspire to. If you’re not Egypt, the dam looks like a win-win:  improving the lives of citizens in a climate friendly and economy-boosting manner.

Independent power

And this dam is really symbolic also of an anti-colonial message. Ethiopia prides itself on being one of the only African nations never to have been colonised. And Prime Minister Ahmed didn’t miss the opportunity to press the point in his inauguration speech, telling attendees:

“Ethiopia's prosperity is sure to be real. Ethiopia will once more show its strength to the black people like that of the Adwa battle. This is our second Adwa victory. Let us therefore stand strong together in unity and prosperity."

The battle of Adwa is perhaps the most famous moment in Ethiopian history, indeed one of the most celebrated in the whole of modern African history. It saw local forces led by Emperor Menelik II and  Empress Taytu Betul defeat an invading Italian army in 1896, preserving their country’s independence. It inspired people with African heritage across the world, including leaders of America’s civil rights movement. By putting it into his speech, Ahmed setting up the dam up as something far beyond a power plant.

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World Reframed is produced in London by Global South World, part of the Impactum Group. Its editors are Duncan Hooper and Ismail Akwei.