Ruto seals deal for Ethiopian power, offers to mend Nile Rift

President William Ruto arrive at Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa and received by Transport Minister Alemu Sime, for the 2nd Africa-CARICOM Summit. [File, Standard]

Kenya will buy electrici ty from Ethiopia's Grand Renaissance Dam under a new power de al, President William Ruto announced at the dam's inauguration.

He also offered to mediate between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan as as tensions over the dam's impact on Nile waters deepen.

"I came here to witness a project that symbolizes Africa's determination to power its own fut ure, " Ruto said during the inauguration.

An event that was attended by Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh, Mohamud Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh and South Sudanese Pr esident Salva Kiir, Ethiopian officials, and African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

Ruto add ed that Kenya is " ready to bu y power from E thio pia" to meet its grow ing energy demand. Kenya currently produ ces about 3,300 megawatts of electricity, with geothermal making up the lar gest share.

Yet, demand i s projected to rise sharply, and Addis Ababa's 5,150 MW megastructure could provide a cheaper regional supply.

The $5 billion GERD is Africa's largest hydropo wer dam and ranks among the 20 biggest in t he world .

Its 74 billion cubic meters of storage can hold more than the volume of Lake Tana. Et hiopian Prime Minister Ab iy Ahmed hailed it as a historic turning point.

" The dam was not built to harm its brothers ," he said, referring to Egypt and Sudan, "but to electrify the region and change lives ."

But the celebrations in Ethiopia contrasted with unease in Cairo and Khartoum.Neither Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi nor Sudanese leaders attended.

Egypt depends on the Nile fo r 97 percent of its water and fears that prolonged drought combined with the dam' s fillin g could cut flows downstream.

Sisi has described GERD as an "existential t hreat" and warned, "Whoever thinks Egypt will turn a blind eye to its water r ights is mistaken."

Sudan has t aken a more mixed position. It joined Egypt in labeling Ethiopia's filling of the dam " unilateral" and a "continuous threat to stability." At the same time, Sudanese engineer s acknowledge that GERD already reduce d flooding at the 60-year-old Roseire s Dam, 110 km downstream.

Abdullah Abderrahma n, Roseires' administration manager, said GERD ha s curbed excessive overflo w and lowered silt build- up that once reduced Roseires' storage cap acity by a third.

Ethiopia insists the project is a sovereign right.

Finan cing came largely from within the country: 91 percent from the central bank and the rest from Eth iopians thro ugh bond sales and donations.

Since construction b egan in 2011, more than 25, 000 people worked on site. Ital ian firm Webuild oversaw the construction. "This dam regulates water and brings an additional benefit to neighbors," CEO Pietro Sali.

Indep endent studies back claims that dow nstream flow has not yet been disrupted, thanks t o careful reservoir fil ling during rainy seasons.

But uncertainties remain. The massive reserv oir , has changed the bal an ce of water politics in Afri ca. Egypt argu es that hist oric treaties give it priority over Nile waters, but Et hiopia rejects agreements made under colonial rule.

Abiy called the dam a project of "collective advancement" and urged neighbors to view it as a shared asset.

S till, mistrust lingers. Cairo has tightened relatio ns with Eritrea and Somalia to co unterbalance E thiopia. Talks under African U nion mediation have stalled for years. No legally binding framework g overns how GERD will be filled and operated in dry years, a s ticking point for Egypt and Sudan.

"A frica's prosperity will not be built on suspicion but on coop e ration," Ruto said.

The GERD shows Ethiopia's strategy of energy-led development. N ear ly half of Ethiopia's 1 20 million peo ple lack reliable electricity.

The government hopes surplus energy sales to K enya, Sudan, and Djibouti will generate export earnings. Alr eady, E thiopia supplies about 400 MW to Sudan and Djibouti. With GERD fully operat ional, expor ts could rise dramatically.

Pre sident Salva Kiir s aid "South Sudan will sign a power agreement to receiv e electricity from the dam. This will bri ng power to our towns, villa ges, sc hools, and hospitals"

Constr uction of the 5,150-megawatt hydropower project began in 2011 on the Blue Nile River near the Sudanese border.

The Blue Nile, known as the Abay River in Ethiopia, originates from Lake Tana abou t 570 km north of Addis Ababa and is one of the Nile Rive r's two main tributaries