The inauguration of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Africa’s largest hydro-electric dam, is a moment of truth for Ethiopia’s national identity. Expected to generate 6,000MW of electricity when it reaches full capacity, it also threatens to overhaul the political dynamics of the region, with Ethiopia and its Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the big winners.

Abiy claims the GERD is of existential importance to Ethiopia, and that it ‘means the end of Ethiopia’s geopolitical insignificance.’ There are eerie parallels with Egyptian leader Gamel Nasser’s insistence on building the Aswan in the teeth of opposition from regional and western states. And now Egypt, along with Sudan, is the leading opponent of Abiy’s dam, arguing it disrupts water from the Nile River. Egypt, which supported the TPLF in its war with Abiy’s federal government, has also offered backing to Somalia, another rival to Ethiopia.

For many, GERD is key project to power. At the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa on 8-10 September, the EU announced that it will pay $156m into a grid-expansion project that would allow Ethiopia to export electricity to its neighbours, including Somalia, Uganda and Kenya, whose President William Ruto has already offered to buy power generated by the dam. Ruto and Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud attended the dam inauguration in person; the latter as a conciliatory gesture.