Ethiopia started generating electricity for the first time from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on Sunday 20 February 2022.

The dam is Africa’s largest hydroelectric project with an output of 5000MW and was inaugurated by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

In a statement at the inauguration, the prime minister emphasised the importance of the dam to his country’s economic growth. Abiy said: “Ethiopia’s main interest is to bring light to 60% of the population who are suffering in darkness, to save the labour of our mothers who are carrying wood on their backs in order to get energy.”

“As you can see, this water will generate energy while flowing as it previously flowed to Sudan and Egypt.”

The $4.2bn project is ultimately expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts of electricity, more than doubling Ethiopia’s electricity output.

State media reported the 145-metre (475-foot) high dam – which lies on Blue Nile River in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of western Ethiopia, not far from the border with Sudan – had started generating 375 megawatts of electricity from one of its turbines on Sunday.