South Sudan Ambassador: East Africa Region Will Have Enough Energy Once GERD is Completed

© Provided by Ethiopian News Agency (ENA)

Addis Ababa August 16/2022/ENA/ South Sudan Ambassador to Ethiopia, James Morgan said the East Africa region will have enough energy once the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is completed and it is ‘almost done’.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Ambassador Morgan said the dam is part of the infrastructures that help economic development of the region.

“The Renaissance dam will produce energy not only for Ethiopia but also for the region. This, I think, is almost towards completion. So, we don’t have any more questions about it. It is almost done,” he noted.

Ethiopia announced the successful completion of the third filling of the dam and the start of electricity generation from the second turbine of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) last week.

Stating that the remaining issue is left only to the three countries (Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt) to settle everything smoothly, the ambassador pointed out, adding that “otherwise I think this project is already completed.”

According to him, “there is no problem about it because the region will have enough energy once it is done, and it is almost done. Energy is part of the infrastructures that help economic development of the region, that is in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia itself, Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia, and Eritrea. In fact it will help the whole region.”

Following his recent visit to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), South Sudan Presidential Advisor on National Security Affairs, General Kong Tiptip Gatluak, said that the dam will not have a negative impact on downstream countries and is instrumental for regional energy integration.

After the visit, the advisor told ENA that the dam does not have any negative impact.

The presidential advisor on national security affairs added that this dam is going to have its lion’s share for the integration of the East Africa region.

“After witnessing GERD’s construction site, we have found that the dam is a large project and can provide all neighboring countries with electricity,” he noted.

In order to accelerate the connectivity of the region with power, the advisor said Ethiopia has already started to sell electricity to Djibouti, Sudan, and Kenya.

Announcing the completion of the third filling and the start of electricity generation from the second turbine of the GERD last week, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed affirmed that Sudan and Egypt should understand that Ethiopia has no intention to cause harm to the downstream countries other than to meet its electric power needs.

The GERD will be a hub of clean and renewable energy supply for the region and it is expected to be a catalyst for people-to-people relations as well as trade between states of the region.

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