EnErgy DialoguEs in africa: is thE granD Ethiopian rEnaissancE Dam transforming Ethiopia’s rEgional rolE?

The paper examines the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as a catalyst for Ethiopia's transition toward a low-carbon, 'green' economy and its ambition to become a primary electricity exporter in East Africa. It details the dam's technical specifications, its integration into Ethiopia's Growth and Transformation Plans, and the role of regional bodies like the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) and the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) in facilitating energy trade. The author argues that while the GERD offers a significant opportunity for regional integration, its success depends on overcoming hydro-hegemonic tensions with downstream states, improving trans-boundary environmental assessments, and harmonizing national energy policies across the region.

• The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is a major hydropower project in north-west Ethiopia with an estimated cost of $4.7 billion and a revised generation capacity of 6,000 megawatts (MW).
• Ethiopia aims to leverage the GERD and other energy projects to become Africa's first low-carbon, 'green' economy, shifting its economic base so that electricity potentially overtakes coffee as its main export product.
• The GERD is integrated into broader national strategies, including the National Energy Policy of 2013 and the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), with a target national generation capacity of approximately 17,500MW by 2020.
• Ethiopia intends to export surplus electricity to several regional neighbors, including planned deliveries of 400MW to Kenya, 1,200MW to Sudan, and 2,000MW to Egypt, though these depend on the roll-out of regional infrastructure.
• The Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP), headquartered in Addis Ababa, serves as a mechanism for regional energy trade, but faces challenges due to disparities in installed capacity, with Egypt currently holding almost 65% of the pool's capacity.
• The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), linking COMESA, the EAC, and SADC, provides a potential framework to harmonize legislative and institutional energy frameworks and link the Eastern and Southern African power pools.
• Tensions persist regarding the GERD's impact on downstream riparian states, and the author notes that trans-boundary environmental and social impact assessments (TESIA) have been hindered by a lack of transparency and the withdrawal of consultants like Dutch Deltares.

APA

MAupin, A. (2016). EnErgy DialoguEs in africa: is thE granD Ethiopian rEnaissancE Dam transforming Ethiopia’s rEgional rolE? South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Occasional-Paper-228.pdf

Chicago

MAupin, Agathe. EnErgy DialoguEs in africa: is thE granD Ethiopian rEnaissancE Dam transforming Ethiopia’s rEgional rolE? South African Institute of International Affairs, 2016. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Occasional-Paper-228.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=MAupin |first1=Agathe |title=EnErgy DialoguEs in africa: is thE granD Ethiopian rEnaissancE Dam transforming Ethiopia’s rEgional rolE? |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=February 2016 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Occasional-Paper-228.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{maupin2016energy, author = {MAupin, Agathe}, title = {{EnErgy DialoguEs in africa: is thE granD Ethiopian rEnaissancE Dam transforming Ethiopia’s rEgional rolE?}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2016}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Occasional-Paper-228.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }