Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday inaugurated the Renaissance hydroelectric power plant (Hidase) on the Nile — the largest in Africa. The ceremony was broadcast on social media and was attended by the leaders of Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia and South Sudan. According to the minister, the launch of the HPP will not harm Egypt and Sudan, but on the contrary, will create new opportunities for economic integration. Construction of the $4.2 billion facility began in 2011. The station's capacity is 5,150 MW, and the reservoir holds 74 billion cubic meters of water. The tank was filled from 2020 to 2023. The project was financed by domestic bonds and fundraising among citizens and the diaspora without involving Western creditors. From the very beginning, Cairo and Khartoum expressed concern that the dam would reduce the flow of water to their countries. Egypt, where the Nile covers up to 90% of its freshwater needs, calls the project an existential threat. Attempts to influence the construction through negotiations and appeals to the UN and the Arab League have not yielded results. In July 2025, the Egyptian Foreign Minister admitted that the dialogue with Ethiopia had reached an impasse for 12 years.
