Overview

• Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on July 3 that the Blue Nile megadam is physically finished and will be officially inaugurated in September.
• At full capacity the project will hold 74 billion cubic metres of water and generate over 5,000 megawatts, more than double Ethiopia’s current electricity output.
• Ethiopian officials, led by Dr. Aregawi Berhe, insist the dam was built and financed entirely with domestic resources, countering President Trump’s claims of U.S. funding and reduced downstream flows.
• Egypt and Sudan continue to press for a legally binding tripartite agreement on reservoir operations after African Union-mediated negotiations stalled.
• The dam is key to Ethiopia’s goal of electrifying half its population without power and positioning the country as a net energy exporter.