Regional Cooperation in the Nile Basin and the Grand Renaissance Dam | March 2021 Webinar

The Webinar is delivered by Professor Aaron Tesfaye, WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY, and moderated by Professor Beniam Awash, SUNY ONEONTA, with an open Questions and Answers dialogue with the audience.

Virtual Launch Event | February 2021

The New York Tristate GERD Support Group held a Virtual Launch Event on Saturday on February 20, 2021. The virtual event was attended by over 130 participants and Guest Speakers included H.E. Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie Amde, Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations in New York, Dr. Seleshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Wrt. Lemlem Fiseha, Member of GERD Negotiation Team and Ato Lemma Wakeyo, Manager, Diaspora Branch Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

The Tristate GERD support group affirmed its commitment to achieve its missions working closely with the diaspora community and beyond to advance the public relations, advocacy and financial resource mobilization efforts around GERD.

What is the GERD (The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam)?

• The Nile is the longest rivers in the world, it is 6,650 kilometers long.

• The Nile waters are shared by 11 countries in Africa (Burundi, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda).

  • Ethiopian rivers and streams contribute 85 percent of the Nile waters.

  • Egypt receives 86 percent of the Nile waters.

• The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is one of the mega development projects undertaken by the Government of Ethiopia.

• The construction of GERD on the Nile river started in April 2011. Other earlier dams built on the Nile include Fincha, Tana Beles and Tekeze.

• Once completed, GERD is expected to be the largest Dam in Africa and the tenth largest in the world.

  • GERD is 170 meters in height, lies 45 km from Sudanese borders and is 2,500 kilometers from Egypt;

  • GERD is expected to generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity, 16 turbines (each 375 megawatts);

  • GERD construction cost is estimated at US$5 billion dollars. 100 percent of funding comes from Ethiopia’s own resources and the people of Ethiopia.

  • GERD’s first filling was completed in July 2020.

  • GERD is expected to be fully completed and operational by August 2023.

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*Source: excerpts from: “The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Challenges and Opportunities.” Presentation by S. Salman May 28, 2015