The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is one of the most ambitious hydro projects in Africa. The project holds a great deal of potential for improving the standard of living for millions residing in the Horn and Nile Basin of Africa. To ensure its timely completion, many details of the project must be periodically reviewed, and action plans generated to guarantee that the GERD project continues progressing forward. This review summarizes the current environmental, engineering, financial, and political issues of the project. The goal of this article is to ensure large projects like GERD serve as the blue print for future large scale projects in Africa. The GERD project will lay the foundations for multinational engineering projects by ensuring all involved parties concerns are addressed, and risks minimized. In post-colonial Africa, it should be every countries imperative to develop their respective countries standards of living and economic viability with their own effort and hard work. A future for 2 billion Africans where electricity and clean water are the norm is possible. This can only be realized if each respective country prioritizes developing its infrastructure, while minimizing as much risk to itself, and neighboring countries. Keywords: GERD, Nile Basin, hydroelectricity, water security, economic development 2 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l 1 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND CHALLENGES 1.1 North east Africa and the horn of Africa are no strangers to extended droughts and periods of extreme flooding. The primary concern is building GERD would only exacerbate the extreme weather conditions and potentially reduce the amount of water received by downstream countries. In an attempt to address these issues, the participating countries requested a third party, French firms BRLi and Artelia, review the GERD dam and provide an assessment of the projects viability. The French firms BRLi and Artelia have conducted a study of the impact of GERD, but Egypt choose not to take the results as one of the firms pulled out citing lack of independence (Kuol, 2018). It should be noted, the studies began in 2016 well after the dam was partially complete, a source of contention for some. Despite BRLi and Artelia starting the review after the construction began, their results would only give the assessment more credibility since it’s referring to an already existing structure and not chasing improbable scenarios. Currently, the negotiations are still occurring after the results were rejected by Sudan and Ethiopia (Bardi, 2018). The main areas of contention are related to how the dam will impact the regional countries water supply. Recent papers show that the completion of the dam can bring economic development, more water flow to Sudan, evaporation reduction from the High Aswan Dam, and electricity provisions to Egypt and Sudan (Tawfik, 2016) . The technical issues of the dam and the environmental effects are heavily interrelated. A great deal of analysis has been done modeling stream flow conditions during reservoir filling (Ying Zhang, 2016). To date there is no agreed upon filling strategy. Despite this, three of the proposed filling strategies would ensure neighboring countries water security concerns are addressed without impacting the viability of the GERD project: A) impounding a predefined fraction of streamflow each month (10% - 25%), B) impounding streamflow only when conditions are wetter than average, C) filling within a predefined number of years (4,6, or 8). The best strategy forward is a 25% 6-8 year filling strategy that will still allow moderate amounts of power to be generated. Despite being the best compromise, modifications may still be needed based on weather conditions and the established near/long term management strategies. To facilitate this strategy, adaptive releases that respond to downstream conditions, and coordinating with neighboring dams during the filling period will significantly reduce the environmental impact of filling the GERD reservoir (Kevin G. Wheeler, 2016). The Blue Nile River is a source of around 85% of the Nile River water. Little attention has been paid to the high potential for rising sea levels in the future of the Nile Basin. A consequence of rising sea levels will lead to saltwater intrusion downstream, and Nile Basin countries should actively be preparing plans to mitigate sea water intrusion. As it presently stands, the Nile delta is slowly eroding into the sea. As this trend continues/accelerates the delta region may not be able to utilize the land and water in that region. To help alleviate the potential water and land loss while ensuring water security, it's been suggested a 600-km canal together with pumping stations could be built to pump water from the Congo Basin to the Nile Basin. Irrespective of this options viability, politically or financially, Egypt must look into desalination and conservation alternatives for fresh water as its growing population and urbanization would quickly outgrow the available water, even without GERD. There are several other dams built in 3 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l recent years, 250 MW dam in 2012 in Uganda, a 300 MW dam in 2009 on Tekeze River in Ethiopia, 120 MW dam in 2012 on Wele River in Equatorial Guinea. For countries not rich in hydrocarbon based fuels, hydro power is an environmentally friendly way to supply its citizens with power. The use of hydro power would dramatically reduce the CO 2 footprint of a developing country, and align with the Paris Agreement on climate change goals for reducing CO 2 output. Projects like GERD, that fall in line with internationally agreed standards, can potentially pave the way for African countries to be recognized as leaders and allow those countries to take a more active role on the international stage. The Nile river's drainage basin covers 3.2 million km2 forming 10% of the total area of the continent of Africa. The Nile basin is complex, and because of this the discharge at any given point along the mainstream of the river depends on weather, diversions, evaporation, evapo-transportation, and ground water flow (Yohannes Yihdego, 2017). This would imply the implementation of GERD would not be the only contributor to reductions in downstream water supplies. Besides generation of power, the dam can moderate the amount of silt and sediment in the Nile which can benefit the downstream countries. The lack of silt in the water will be a disadvantage to subsistent farms that rely heavily on the Nile waters. The future of billions of people cannot rely on antiquated subsistent farming strategies. This project should invigorate the discussion on how to develop farming techniques that match the land and water resources in the region. Food security in the Nile delta and horn of Africa can thoroughly be addressed by engaging the local communities in irrigation techniques, crop selection, equipment rentals and general financial literacy. This will serve as insurance against a variety of weather/environmental conditions and the economic reality of the region. A major concern is the volume of the dam’s reservoir, it’s measured to be roughly 1.3 times that of the annual discharge of the Blue Nile. This in turn could impact the performance of dams downstream to GERD, and potentially reduce subsistence agricultural production as a result of the changes in silt in the river. The highlands of Ethiopia have a great deal of sediment in the waters, and proper measurement needs to be taken upstream of GERD to ensure the dam continues to perform well. A potential safety benefit of having the dam would be its ability to handle flooding up to 19370 m3/sec. To date there have been no real measures against large flooding events which in turn can regulate the flow for agriculture downstream and reduce evaporation downstream. As with any dam there will be several thousand people that will have to be resettled when nearly 1680 km2 region is flooded for the dam’s reservoir. A majority of the people in the Benishangul-Gumuz region do rely on the local environment and fisheries for their livelihood. Ethiopia’s primary goal is to improve its citizen’s standards of living to a middle income country. The only way to do this is to have the infrastructure needed to support the requirements of an industrial country. The GERD project will contribute to this goal by provide many jobs in the region, and as a consequence will impart many construction trade skills to the local workers. To date 12,000 jobs have been created as a result of the GERD project (Yohannes Yihdego, 2017). This can potentially provide a skilled labor force for the many planned construction projects throughout the horn of Africa. In addition, smaller scale projects for water conservation like sewage treatment and using new irrigation methods can be taught to local workers, and when implemented, will potentially save Egypt 4 BCM of water. If more canals are integrated together there is another 1.5 BCM of water Egypt can generate just by changing management policies at home. Nearly half of the water from the Nile could be saved if drip irrigation and other irrigation techniques were used. Using a combination of these techniques and developing new supplies of water can ensure countries in the Nile Basin have usable water far into the future. 4 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l There are few recent studies of the seismic activity in the region that GERD is being built. A wealth of information on the impacts of seismic activity is available from many existing dams. In particular a paper by Sherard (Sherard, 1974) has established that there have been "essentially no failures of damage to dams caused by displacements of faults during earthquakes…there have been no instances where faults have displaced in dam foundations during strong earthquakes". Many of the issues can safely be addressed by ensuring the dam itself is engineering to contain worst case scenarios, and having emergency action plans ready ahead of dam completion. A detailed study of the seismic activity near the Nubian Block and African Rift was conducted using satellite data, additionally extreme precipitation conditions were also considered using satellite data (Elmahdy, 2017). Their results show that the major faults cross-cut the northern and south-western hills, and are parallel with the faults that cross-cut the GERD site. The faults displacement directions are perpendicular to the GERD walls, creating some alarm. Luckily Addis Ababa university has heavily invested in the Institute of Geophysics, Space Science and Astronomy. The institute is tasked with running permanent seismic states called the National Seismic Network (ESSN) [http://www.aau.edu.et/igssa/academics/]. Implying there is an existing network of sensor available to monitor the seismic activity and provide guidance for action plans in the event there is unusual amounts of seismic activity. The construction of the dam also is an opportunity to grow ESSN into a leader in geophysics and, with proper support and implementation, potentially train the next generation of engineers and scientists in the region. Similar setups were implemented for the Hoover dam by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. They installed a seismic station 0.4 miles north of the dam, the station has been recording data for over 60 years while providing useful data on how the dam should be managed. This highlights the fact that, with proper monitoring, dam’s seismic activity can be managed and damage can be mitigated. Below are some examples of state of the art practices for dams on potentially active faults, taken from (M. Wieland, 2008):  The 27m high San Andreas Dam, which in 1906 was hit by a surface fault break along the San Andreas fault during the M = 8.6 San Francisco earthquake. The fault break line passed through a small ridge between the main dam and the adjacent saddle dam, producing an off-set of 2.5m in the crest line. There was no damage to the dam.  The 27m high Hebgen Dam is an embankment situated near the surface fault break which was activated during the Yellowstone earthquake (M=7.1) in 1951. The nearest fault break was 200m from the dam and had a vertical movement of approx. 5m.  The 143m high Tarbela Dam, completed in 1974 on the river Indus in Pakistan, is a good example of the significance of active faults studies. The dam was designed without consideration to a fault (Darband fault) crossing the dam foundation which was revealed during the construction stage. A detailed seismotectonic study at a later stage proved the fault to be active. The seismic design parameters had to be revised by taking into consideration the active fault passing below the dam body. The effect of surface rupture on the Darband fault beneath the embankment was also reviewed. It was estimated that movement of 1m to 1.5m could occur on this fault. It was believed that if such a movement did occur no catastrophic failure of the embankment would result, since the core of the embankment is constructed of self-healing material with a transition zone and a wide chimney drain on the downstream.  The Matahina Dam in New Zealand is a rockfill embankment 82m high and 400m long, with a central core. The dam leaked after first filling in 1967 due to core cracking, and was 5 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l consequently repaired. In 1987 the dam was exposed to strong seismic shaking (peak horizontal crest acceleration 0.42 g) due to a magnitude ML6.3 earthquake, located on the Edgecumbe Fault. Significant rehabilitation work was performed in 1988 due to internal erosion of the core at the left abutment. The dam is sited across a part of the Waiohau Fault Zone, 80km long. The fault is active with proven surface fault breaking during the Holocene. Several prominent strands of the Waiohau fault intersect the dam site and are considered capable of rupturing during the lifetime of the dam. Investigations in trenches showed that movement on the fault had occurred four times during the past 11,300 years. It was assumed that movement could occur on any of the fault traces present within the dam site. The design criteria, estimated at the 84th percentile level, assumed the magnitude of the Safety Evaluation Earthquake (SEE) as Mw7.2 with corresponding horizontal and vertical peak ground accelerations of 1.25 g and 1.35 g respectively and 3m of oblique slip on the fault (i.e. 2.7m horizontal and 1.3m vertical). Such displacements would surely result in major cracking of the dam body inducing piping and internal erosion (as evidenced by observed core erosion during the 1987 Edgecumbe earthquake). Therefore, it was decided to strengthen the dam with a leakage resistant buttress (M.D. Gillon, 1997). The key for mitigating any of the environmental issues is establishing plans for infrastructure improvement that simultaneously protects the water supply and environment (Walaa Y. El-Nashar, 2017) and regional food supply (Paul J Block, 2007) (Group, Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change (68650), 2010). 2 ENGINEERING ISSUES AND CHALLENGES 2.1 The GERD project began construction in roughly in 2012. Some of the estimated specifications for GERD are Maximum Net Head/ Water Level & Height/Length 133 meters 175 meters/1800m Installed Capacity 6000 MW @ 8760 hrs/ year Turbines 16 x 375 MW Francis turbines Spillway Type & Capacity Controlled Overflow 15,000 m3/s Saddle Dam Height/Length 45 meters/4800 meters Assurance of Power Generation 95% 6 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l Operation, maintenance, environment, misc. expenses 18% Estimated Federal and Regional Tax 30% EEPCo planned sell rate of electricity (Kenya & Djibouti) $0.07 USD per kWh Life of GERD 50 years Reservoir Surface Area 1561 km2 Storage Capacity 79 BCM (Billion Cubic Meter) Completion 70% The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will impound the Blue Nile River in the Benishangul- Gumuz region (1°12′55″N and 35°05′35″E) of Ethiopia and is about 15 km from the borders of Sudan. The contract of the dam was awarded to Salini Construttori (an Italian construction company) at a cost of $4.8US Billion. The Italian company has successfully worked on other projects within Ethiopia like Gilgel Gibe II, Gilgel Gibe III, and Tana Beles. It’s estimated the project will consume 10 million metric tons of concrete that will need to be produced locally. The contract for supply of low and high voltage cables for the Dam was awarded to the Italian firm Tratos Vaci SPA in 2012 by Salini Contruttori. A French multinational by the name Alsom has provided the 8 375 MW Francis turbines for the first phase of the project at a cost of $264USD million. Over 9000 workers including 400 foreigners have been working on the construction of the dam (Yohannes Yihdego, 2017). In addition to the dam more than 400 km of electric transmission lines will be needed to transport the generated power. There have been suggestions that the current GERD design is oversized for the types of expected flow rates of the Blue Nile (Asfaw Beyene, 2013). Reviewing historical data for the peak flow rate of the Blue Nile River, it’s been at 5663 m3/sec and the dam has a reported height of 145 m, potentially generating 7250 MW of power. At lower flow rates the GERD dam would need to idle some of its turbines. The average flow rate of the Blue Nile is 2350 m3/sec, and to achieve the 6000 MW goal GERD would need a flow rate of 4700 m3/sec from the Blue Nile. A more realistic estimate of the operation of the dam would be 4900 MW output at 3800 m3/sec, which the Nile cannot continuously provide (Rizwan Nawaz, 2010). The main take away is, the dam cannot operate at 90% efficiency, and still have additional capacity built into the dam. The question then becomes should the dam have been designed differently, when the Blue Nile cannot provide the water needed. The line of reasoning supporting significant design changes falls flat when fully considering the safety concerns of neighboring countries. Even if GERD is oversized, it ensures that the dam is capable of managing extreme water flow scenarios, just as a plane wing is over engineered, or a bridge is made stronger than needed. One failure is too costly and large scale projects like this need to be built for worst case scenarios. Even with a mean flow of 1456 m3/sec and design target of 2800 MW, which would assure year-round supply of electricity, would put the final prices at roughly $2.3US billion. Despite this savings this system would be strained during the 3-4 month rainy season where the near peak flow rates can be achieved. The calculated plant load factor (power plants actual output/potential output at full capacity) of ~30% is in line with other hydroelectric plants. The Three Gorges Dam in China which has a stated 22500 MW capacity has a power load factor of 45%, while the Hoover Dam which has a stated 2080 MW capacity has a power load factor of 23%. The worldwide average power load factor for hydro power is 44% (Kumar, 2011), meaning half of the hydro 7 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l plant in operation today are operating below 44% power load factor. If the above argument for scaling GERD were extended to dams worldwide then all the dams in the world should be reduced in size. Only nuclear power has power load factors >80%, other forms of energy are typically <50% (wind, natural gas, coal, solar).In addition to this (Asfaw Beyene, 2013) makes mention to underutilization of the turbines, but it's well known that Frances turbines, like the ones in GERD, operate at >70% efficiency even at low discharge amounts. When the Nile flow rates and average load factors are taken into consideration one can estimate the needed height and number of turbines needed to meet the projects goals. The current dam design is attempting to take the safest path possible by engineering a dam that can operate in a variety of environmental conditions without making hazardous sacrifices. One major benefit of having the GERD dam in place is it will increase the lift of other dams that are downstream. Dams like Roseires Dam, Sennar Dam, Merowe Dam, and Aswan High dam in Egypt will benefit from having less sediment entering their hydropower dams. This would force the GERD project to take into consideration management of high levels of sediment in the water supply as a result. Proper management procedures should be in place prior to completion to ensure that the needed maintenance equipment is available to enable uninterrupted operation. For example, plans for annual maintenance, periodic flushing of slit accumulation, and maintaining trained personnel should all be in place. The decision to use 8 Francis turbines can be fully realized as a result. In ideal running conditions, the dam will not use all 8 of the Francis turbines simultaneously. For the turbines that do run, to maintain the efficiency of the turbines in high sediment environments, critical parts should be coated with tungsten- carbide (WC-Co) which can assist in reducing unnecessary maintenance and ensure longer up times (Amini, 2018). In countries like Peru, the monsoon periods last from November to April and sediment concentration increases drastically. Hydro plants in Peru (managed by SN Power/Statkraft) have successfully extended their turbine up times by introducing coatings to their turbine blades decreasing erosion ware (Lane, 2016). Options to ensure the GERD dam’s turbines survive the high silt levels during all seasons exist, ensuring that once the dam is operational it will remain running without issue. 3 FINANCIAL ISSUES 3.1 The main financial tools for securing outside funding used by most sub-Saharan governments is issuing dollar bonds. In the recent years, sub-Saharan governments have issued $81bn in dollar bonds to investors. In addition to this, syndicated loans and bilateral debts are also issued, mostly to China and most tied to large construction projects (The Economist, 2018). Taking Zambia for example, in 2012, the country could borrow more cheaply than Spain. Now bond yields have jumped about 16% implying investors are losing confidence the borrowing country can repay the debts loaned. The IMF in 2005 implemented the “heavily indebted poor countries” project to remove some of the debts of heavily indebted countries. There is concern that debt write offs will not encourage the needed changes, like establishing and enforcing robust taxation schemes, and have countries repeatedly rely on similar 8 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l forgiveness programs to stay solvent. With the diminishing influence of the IMF, and rise of China, debt financing will need to be enforced and fully owned by the borrowing countries to prevent Greece like defaults from happening in developing countries in Africa. To ensure investors and bond buyers are making a sound investment in Africa’s future, average estimates will be used to determine the cost benefit of the GERD project (Kebede, 2015). The projected cost of the GERD project is ~$4.38 billion USD, and with an estimated 30% income tax bracket, it would take ~8 years for the breakeven point. The estimated ROI on net income for the GERD project would be ~12%. The break even time can be reduced if the tax rate on Ethiopian Electrical Power Corporation (EEPCo) is reduced. As it stands Kenya and Djibouti are both future customers of the power generated at GERD, with Kenya agreeing to buy 400 MW per year from Ethiopia and Djibouti having the capability to buy 60 MW on its recently built transmission line. One of the financial concerns is if the agreed upon filling rate prevents the dam for reaching full operational capacity, and as a result, requires payment of bond/loans before revenue is generated. This would impact EEPCo’s ability to repay bond holders and investors at the established date of maturity. There have also been attempts at debt financing from selling bonds, but the amounts are far from sufficient to meet the needs of GERD. The government of Ethiopia plans to self-manage all the costs of the project. Chinese banks funded the turbines and associated electrical equipment at a cost of $1.8US billion with the remaining $3US billion being managed by the Ethiopian government. The cost does not include the cost of power transmission which will account for 15% of Ethiopia's GDP which was $US42 billion in 2012. Others have estimated the dam will cost closer to $7US billion, but most of these estimates are from sources that would prefer that the dam not be constructed at all. Despite this the Export Import Bank of China has committed $1US billion to help build the necessary transmission lines to the capital of Ethiopia and beyond. Successful completion of the dam would not only be a significant engineering achievement, but would lay the groundwork for debt financing of African projects throughout the continent. In the case that the GERD project was immediately turned on, the dam would not have a use for all the excess power that would be generated. The primary driver for having the dam running is having the ability to repay the outstanding debts and bonds issued. If the end goal is to keep Ethiopia solvent and able to continue using debt financing, it’s critical that the debts be paid in a timely fashion. Most of the debt does not mature until 10 years. So far, the dam has been under construction for roughly 6 years. If the tax rates on EEPCo are relaxed, the dam can generate power at a rate that would supply enough revenue to offset the debt and ensure a return on investment within the bond maturity time. The bigger question is what to do with all the excess power if there are no customers willing to buy. This could potentially afford EEPCo time to slowly fill the dam reservoir and have the debt deadlines be the finish line instead of full power operation. The excess power and affordable labor in the region could also enable heavy industry to being investing in the region since power availability would no longer be a concern. 9 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l A key consideration for Ethiopia is the collection of taxes and other revenue generated tools. More recent efforts to broaden the tax base and strengthen tax administration through automation, tax education and enforcement measures have driven the increase in revenues on profits and VAT (Group, Ethiopia Public Expenditure Review [Report No: ACS14541], 2016). Still the issue remains on how much of the GDP needs to be set aside for maintenance of large infrastructure projects. In general, there has been a decline in spending on operations and maintenance. In order to maintain the integrity of any large construction project the future recurring costs must be taken into consideration and calculated into the national budget. In addition to this the distribution of government spending is heavily region based. At the woreda level Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa received the largest share of expenditure dollars. This points to the government needing measures to ensure the taxation and distribution models fit the region's economic characteristics. The government should focus on automation schemes (digital transactions with cell phones) as a measure to more effectively administer its taxation plans. This would quickly eliminate the overhead of administration and pave a path for how to effectively manage a taxation scheme over a large country with limited infrastructure. Neighboring Kenya currently has a system called M-Pesa run by Vodafone which allows money transfer and micro financing without the need for bank branches on the ground. Financial system like should be implemented as a partnership of private entities and the government run TelCo. This would provide the government the data needed to effectively redistribute tax dollars as well as begin the slow transition to partially privatize the state owned agencies. With partial privatization of the state owned organizations, Ethiopia will attract additional outside funds which are sorely needed for GERD and other government functions. 4 POLITICAL CHALLENGES FACING GERD NOW AND FUTURE 4.1 There is an urgent need for Ethiopia, Egypt, and the Sudanese to reconcile their existing and potential interests to the Nile water resources in an equitable and sustainable manor. The three nations Nile basin population is expected to grow to include 80.4 million Egyptians, 31.5 million Sudanese, 34.9 million Ethiopians, and 9.5 million South Sudanese (Zeray Yihdego, 2016). One of the main challenges is finding the appropriate prioritization of water security, food security which is linked to water security, and developing the intra basin power trade between the three countries. Intra governmental platforms such as the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and the Intra governmental Authority on Development were developed to tackle such issues with varying degrees of success. These organizations slow progress on a resolution is forcing governments to move forward with or without the agencies explicit recommendations. Despite GERD being a project not matched in scale, both Blue Nile and White Nile basin infrastructure projects between Egypt, Sudan, and Uganda have been completed. These projects can provide techniques to help define relationships where all parties’ interests are respected. The GERD project will help lay the foundation for future large scale multination projects. Additionally the socio-economic benefits cannot be denied, which include coordinated management of hydraulic infrastructure and improved water regulatory regimes at a time where climate change is a reality. One of the main contention points down stream countries have are their historical rights to the Nile water [1902 Anglo- Ethiopian Nile Treaty]. An excerpt from the treaty: 10 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l “His Majesty the Emperor Menelik II, King of kings of Ethiopia, engages himself towards the Government of His Britannic Majesty not to construct or allow to be constructed, any works across the Blue Nile, Lake Tsana or the Sobat, which would arrest the flow of their waters into the Nile except in agreement with his Britannic Majesty’s Government and the Government of the Sudan”. (Ullendorff, 1967) Additional amendments and additions were made to the document, but most of which were done in the interests of the colonizing countries and unfit for an independent Africa today. The future of African countries should not be held to the rules of governments not elected by the citizen of that respective country. The GERD project offers the opportunity for Africans to take full ownership of their respective countries and their futures. This is reflected in the 2015 Declaration of Principles (Horn Affairs, 2015) by the affected countries, which establishes principles of water law, cooperation mechanisms, how benefits will be shared, and negative impacts prevented (Rieu-Clarke, 2016). In particular Sudan played a pivotal role in the trilateral negotiations and has given substantial support for the project (Salman, 2016). The main challenge is establishing a permanent legal framework that is accepted by all parties involved. Egypt is projected to have over 100 million citizens by 2050. The main concern is that the GERD dam will throttle its water supply, and potentially its economy. If population growth in Egypt continues as projected, Egypt will be forced to look for other water sources irrespective of the GERD dam. Considering the complexity of large scale water projects, if one were started in early 2020 Egypt could work towards water independence and in the process create jobs for its citizens. In a study done by Professor of Petroleum and Energy at the American University of Cairo (AUC) suggests connecting the Nile and the Congo water systems as a measure to ensure water security. The canal would be 600 km long and cost upwards of $8US billion (Al-Ahram, 2014). Despite the promising findings in this article, it will be up to the interested parties to establish how to facilitate such a project in a reasonable time line and within budget. Despite this proposal, the main theme of Egypt’s response has been overwhelmingly mixed. Egypt has spent a significant amount of energy trying to slow the progress of the GERD dam by sending its minister of water resource and irrigation to Italy (Salini Impregilo) and its foreign ministers to neighboring African countries. A great deal of the objection stems from the fact that downstream countries claim entitlements to the Niles waters based on laws made by non-elected representatives of those respective countries (British & French agreements of 1920s). The most critical time is during the filling period of the dam, and based on filling strategies mentioned earlier (Ying Zhang, 2016) there are several possibilities that can be implemented without causing water shortages to downstream countries (Kevin G. Wheeler, 2016). Once a safe filling strategy is selected, Egypt should focus its energy inward and address its pressing issues at home. Recent political events in Egypt have provided an ideal opportunity to make reforms a part of the new government. Water scarcity in North Africa and South West Asia is going to continue to be an issue unless affected countries actively work on conservation and generation projects. 5 CONCLUSION 5.1 11 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l Many challenges are still facing the GERD project. To date the project has not been completed. Despite this, many studies have been done on the economic and environmental viability of the dam. A vast majority of the studies do find items of concern like seismic activity, local relocation, and water security, but the overall message is that a cooperative approach to the filling and maintenance of the dam will ensure the project will succeed. The GERD project can serve as a model for how to establish and implement large scale multi country projects in 21st century Africa. In addition to this, having a green source of energy for the region will alleviate the constant price fluctuations of the oil and coal, ensuring the region’s growth is not throttled by outside forces. As population growth continues to increase, the Nile Basin and the rest of Africa should have plans for how to efficiently use and recycle water. The GERD project will impact the amount of water to downstream countries, but a filling strategy can be implemented in a safe manner that allows timely filling of the dam. What will not change is the need for additional clean water in the region as populations outgrow the current water supplies. Other project, following a similar model could spawn, for example water desalination and new irrigation techniques that could generate several BCM of water for the region. The end goal of the GERD project is to help create jobs and improve the standard of living for all Africans in the region. There are nearly 2 billion Africans today racing towards becoming middle income individuals. The future of this growth will rest on the creation of skilled manufacturing and skilled labor jobs. To realize this reality, reliable electricity is a non-negotiable requirement. With a reliable source of power skilled Africans can build and manufacture at a scale never seen before in Africa. Seeing Africa reaching this goal means that Africans must collectively build their countries and serve as unflappable allies to one another in this goal until Africa is recognized as a powerful, peaceful, and resourceful continent. 5.2 PEOPLE & SUPPLIERS OF INTEREST Dr Arega Yirdaw [ MIDROC Technology Group ] Belachew Mecraw [] Takele Uma Banti [ Mayor of Addis Ababa] Berhanu Nega [Bucknell University ] Tsegaye Tadesse [ Professor University of Nebraska ] Semu Moges - [Addis Ababa University ] Paul Block - [University of Wisconsin Madison - Civil & Environmental Engineering ] Meron Teferi Taye - [Staff Water and Land Resources Center, Addis Ababa] Solomon Tassew Erkyihun - [ Demand Forecaster for Tampa Bay Water] Product and Service Providers : -General Electric (Turbines and associated electromechanical equipment) -Metals and Engineering Corporation (Contractor for electromechanical and hydraulic steel structures) -Salini Impregilo (Engineering, procurement and construction contractor) -Studio Ing G Pietrangeli (Civil Works Designer) -Tratos Cavi SPA (Low and high voltage cable supplier) Ethiopian Electrical Power Corporation : www.eepco.gov.et Phone: 251-011-556004 Fax: 251-011-5550822 12 | P a g e S o l o m o n M i k a e l Miheret Debebe - CEO Beletu Befirdu - GM Finance Tesfaye Kebebe - GM Operations Tsegaye Worku - GM Human Resources Abdul Hakim Mohammed - GM Engineering 6