GERD stimulates economic growth and resilience: EEP

Addis Ababa, March 25, 2023 (FBC) – Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) Communication Director says that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) increases economic benefits and resilience.

Speaking exclusively to Fana Broadcasting Corporate, Moges Mekonnen, Communication Director of EEP said that the dam will double Ethiopia’s electricity generation and potentially stimulate the country’s economic growth through increases in the output of electricity-dependent sectors and other sectors via forward and backward economic linkages.

He added that energy export creates peaceful economic integration through mutual resources sharing thereby securing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to nations in the region.

He said the purpose of the GERD is lifting millions of people out of poverty and provide access to electricity to more than 60 million Ethiopians and provide affordable electricity to the service, industrial and agriculture economic sectors.

“GERD represents a sustainable socio-economic project for Ethiopia: replacing fossil fuels and reducing CO2 emissions, it will significantly contribute to the economic and social development of Ethiopia and neighboring countries” he has stated

Moges explained that the GERD will also reduce negative impacts of climate change such as recurrent floods capturing 90 percent of the sediment protecting irrigation canals and equipment from damages caused by sedimentation.

Regarding the reckless recent comments made by the Egyptian Foreign Minister and the idea of water security, the communication Director said that it is nothing but a distraction to create confusion on the technicality and operation of the dam.

He explained that a high level of water security makes the most of water’s benefits for humans and ecosystems and limits the risk of destructive impacts associated with water.

He added that the primary main goal of the dam is to generate electricity and flow to the downstream countries.

“Despite these glaring facts, Egyptian officials are obsessed with disseminating baseless information that the filling and operation of the dam will have significant economic, environmental and social repercussions” Moges has said.

It is stated that Ethiopia has earned US$48.23 million from electric power export to the neighboring Sudan, Djibouti, and Kenya in the past seven months.