Tanzania inaugurates $2.9B hydropower project built by Egyptian consortium

Tanzania on Saturday inaugurated the Julius Nyerere dam and hydropower plant, a $2.9 billion project built by an Egyptian consortium over five years, Anadolu reports.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attended the inauguration ceremony on behalf of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Located on Tanzania’s Rufiji River, the project has a generation capacity of 2,115 megawatts and is designed to meet the country’s energy needs, regulate water flows and reduce flood risks.

In remarks broadcast by Egyptian media, Madbouly said the project “reflects the Tanzian will and extensive Egyptian expertise,” congratulating Tanzania on the dam inauguration.

He said its completion demonstrated the ability of Egyptian companies to undertake major projects internationally, particularly in Africa.

READ: Egypt renews opposition to new Ethiopian dams on the River Nile

The project was implemented by a consortium comprising Egypt’s Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric.

Madbouly said Friday that about 1,700 Egyptian engineers and technicians participated in the construction work as part of a workforce of approximately 12,000 people.

He said the project’s success “refutes previous claims that Egypt opposes development in Nile Basin countries,” adding that Cairo supports their development as long as it does not harm the interests of downstream countries Egypt and Sudan.

Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan have yet to reach an agreement on the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which Addis Ababa built on the Blue Nile, a tributary of the Nile River.

Negotiations among the three countries were frozen for nearly three years before resuming in 2023 and stalling again the following year.

​​​​​​​The Nile Basin is shared by 11 countries: Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt.

OPINION: Egypt’s energy paradox: Importing LNG, exporting influence