Ethiopia completes Nile dam, extends olive branch to Egypt

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

An aerial view Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile River in Guba, northwest Ethiopia. 

Photo credit: File | Adwa Pictures | AFP

The Ethiopian government says the complete dam on the Nile could bring cooperation between countries that had traditionally quarrelled over its development, offering an olive branch to Egypt and Sudan to utilise the facility.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), built on the Blue Nile amid protests from Egypt and Sudan, is now complete, ending a decade of construction work that was fully funded by Ethiopians.