Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday said a multi-billion-dollar mega-dam on the Blue Nile that has long worried neighbouring countries is complete and will be officially inaugurated in September.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), launched in 2011 with a $4-billion budget, is considered Africa's largest hydroelectric project stretching 1.8 kilometres (wide and 145 metres.

Addis Ababasays it is vital for its electrification programme but it has been a source of tensions with downstream nationsEgyptandSudanwho worry it will affect their water supply.

Speaking in parliament, Abiy said GERD "is now complete, and we are preparing for its official inauguration".

"To our neighbours downstream Egypt and Sudanour message is clear: the Renaissance Dam is not a threat, but a shared opportunity," he added.

"The energy and development it will generate stand to uplift not just Ethiopia."

The country first began generating electricity at the project, located in the northwest of the country around 30km from the border with Sudan, in February 2022.

At full capacity the huge dam can hold as much as 74 billion cubic metres of water and could generate more than 5,000 megawatts of power more than doubleEthiopia's current output.

The east African nation is the second most populous on the continent with a rapidly growing population currently estimated at 130 million and has growing electricity needs.

Around half of its people live without electricity, according to estimates earlier this year by theWorld Bank.

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Opposition

Egypt and Sudan have voiced concerns about GERD's operation without a three-way agreement, fearing it could threaten their access to vital Nile waters. Negotiations have failed to make a breakthrough.

Egypt, which is already suffering from severe water scarcity, sees the dam as an existential threat because it relies on the Nile for 97 percent of its water needs.

Earlier this week, Egyptian PresidentAbdel Fattah al-Sisiand Sudan's de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan met and "stressed their rejection of any unilateral measures in theBlue NileBasin".

According to a statement by Sisi's spokesman, the two are committed to "safeguard water security" in the region.

But Abiy said Addis Ababa is "willing to engage constructively", adding that the project will "not come at the expense" of either Egypt or Sudan.

"We believe in shared progress, shared energy, and shared water," he said.

"Prosperity for one should mean prosperity for all."

Originally published on RFI