Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has formally invited Egypt and Sudan to attend the official inauguration of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), scheduled for September, declaring the project a symbol of unity and development for the region.
In a televised address to the Ethiopian Parliament on Thursday, Abiy announced the completion of the GERD, a project that has spanned over 14 years.
“The construction of the GERD is complete.
We will inaugurate it at the end of summer in September.
There are those who try to obstruct it before its opening, but we will inaugurate it. My message to the downstream countries is that the Renaissance Dam is a blessing for Egypt and Sudan,” he stated.
Reassuring neighbouring nations about water security, he added, “Not a single liter of water has been reduced from the Aswan Dam.”
Abiy also underlined Ethiopia’s commitment to peaceful cooperation in the Nile Basin, saying: “As long as Ethiopia is prosperous and developed, we wish no harm to our Egyptian and Sudanese brothers.
We will use energy and water together, and development and growth are coming. Ethiopia remains ready for dialogue, negotiation, and cooperation with downstream countries.”
Concluding his speech, the Prime Minister extended a diplomatic hand: “We officially invite Egypt and Sudan, as well as all governments of the downstream countries, to join us in our joy at the inauguration of the Grand Renaissance Dam in September.”
According to Aregawi Berhe, Director of the Ethiopian Dam Project Coordination Office, the GERD has now reached 98.9 percent completion.
He emphasized the symbolic value of the dam, calling it “a national dream after 14 years of work,” and noted that the project was built without any foreign loans or aid—an apparent rebuttal to recent remarks by former US President Donald Trump, who alleged American involvement in its funding.
However, the path to GERD’s completion has not been without friction.
Diplomatic tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa escalated sharply in late 2024 after the failure of talks over water sharing agreements.
In September 2024, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry wrote to the United Nations Security Council, rejecting Abiy Ahmed’s comments on the fifth filling of the dam and condemning Ethiopia’s unilateral decisions as violations of international law and the 2015 Declaration of Principles.
The letter claimed that Ethiopia was deliberately using negotiations to delay resolution while pursuing actions that undermine Egypt’s rights to Nile waters.
It also warned against attempts to justify these actions under the pretext of developmental rights.
In response, Ethiopia submitted its own letter to the Security Council, accusing Egypt of entering talks with the intent to stall progress and clinging to colonial-era agreements.
The letter argued that Egypt’s position reflects a refusal to accept equitable resource sharing in a changing regional landscape.
As the September inauguration approaches, regional and international observers are closely watching how the long-standing Nile dispute will evolve in light of this historic development.
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