Ethiopia inaugurates Grand Renaissance Dam amid Egyptian objections

September 9, 2025 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopia inaugurated its giant Grand Renaissance Dam on Tuesday, a project that has sparked a long-running dispute with downstream Egypt, which immediately declared it reserved the right to defend its interests.

The dam on the Blue Nile, just 17 km (about 10 miles) from the Sudanese border, has a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters and has been a source of tension between Addis Ababa, Cairo, and Khartoum for over a decade.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially opened the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in a ceremony with several African leaders, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency reported.

The government said Ethiopia would not use the dam to “harm others” and that “no power on earth can impede our journey towards prosperity,” according to the agency.

Ethiopia began building the GERD in 2011. The Blue Nile is the main tributary of the Nile river, supplying about 85% of its water.

In Cairo, the foreign ministry said it had sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council president protesting the dam’s operation as a violation of international law.

Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty wrote that “any misconceptions that Cairo might overlook its existential interests in the Nile River are mere illusions,” a ministry statement said. “Egypt… reserves its right to take the necessary measures to defend its existential interests.”

Sudan, which lies between Ethiopia and Egypt, made no official comment, and no Sudanese officials attended the ceremony.

Sudan’s silence follows a September 4 report by Al Jazeera Net stating that Sudan and Ethiopia had signed a technical agreement on Oct. 26, 2022, to govern the dam’s filling and operation. That agreement reportedly set a permanent operating level for the dam, committed Ethiopia to a minimum water discharge, and established a joint data-sharing mechanism.