What happened for Ethiopia to build the biggest in Africa hydroelectric dam

At first, the extensive construction site was preferred for a young mechanic engineer.

Hundreds have already dripped the foundations in the rigid conditions for the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa, which penetrates the blue.

Mags Ishivas was 27 years old when he came to this remote corner of Western Ethiopia in 2012, seeking to gain valuable experience in his profession. The completion of the project must change its nation, but it also changed its life.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister AUMD officially launched a large Ethiopian Renaissance Platinum (GERD), which will help electrify the country and provide the region’s power.

The platinum wall stretches 1.78 km (1.1 miles) on the valley and stands in a height of 145 m (475 feet) – it is built with 11 million cubic meters of concrete. It created a huge reservoir called Lake Nigat, which means dawn in amharical language.

The construction of the dam on the tributary of the Nile, which provides most of the water of this large river, was contradictory with the countries downstream. Diplomatic tension with Egypt swirled And there were even conversations about the conflict.

But for Ethiopia, Gerd became a symbol of national pride and, according to Abia, she put his country on the world stage.

At the personal level of Mr. Homs, who is now 40 years old, was also “very proud of being part of it.”

“Observing how the Platina’s Platinum’s progress was deeply satisfying. I came to look for a job, but somewhere along the way it stopped feeling just a job. I grew up in the project, going through my future as if it was my own.”

There were problems.

“It was difficult to separate from the family,” he said to the BBC. Mr. could only return home-at Bahir-Dar-400 km-two times a year.

Distance Platinum site and sometimes extraordinary heat – with a temperature sometimes fall into 45C – also presented problems. In addition, working hours was long.

“Our changes were passing from 7am to 7pm, only an hour of break for lunch. Then we handed over the night crew because the work had to continue around the clock,” Mr. Garr said.

His task was to make sure that construction work was structurally substantiated and construction standards.

The Gerd project has been a rare combined force, since in recent decades the country horn Africa has been deployed political violence and ethnic internecine.

While some, like an engineer, worked directly on the dam, millions of other Ethiopians were literally invested in it.

People from all walks of society have contributed to the construction of the dam at the expense of donations and the purchase of government bonds.

Despite US President Donald Trump’s claims that Washington has financially supported the construction of the dam, Addis Ababa claims he was fully financed domestically.

Several fundraising companies have been held several times.

The clinical nurse of Kiras asphy was one of them.

Despite the fact that he was from the Tiger region, which was launched by a two -year civil war, he contributed when he could have been announced in 2011 since the plans were announced in 2011.

He says he bought government bonds more than 100 times – although he had to suspend purchases during the conflict when the main services, including banking, were rejected by the tiger.

Mr. Kiras’s motivation was introduced in the expression made by the late Prime Minister Ethiopian Meles Zenov, who oversaw the beginning of the project that all the Ethiopians should gather in support of the dam.

“I promised to do everything I could to help her through the finish line,” said the father of five years BBC.

Now that all the turbines work, thoughts turn to what difference the power of Ethiopia can make.

At full capacity, it must generate 5100 MW capacity – more than twice as much as the country produces a dam and enough to provide tens of millions more houses in the country. However, it depends on the fact that the infrastructure operating to move power to different parts of the country.

Habtami Water and Energy Minister said the BBC that almost half of the country has no access to electricity.

“This is what we want to reduce now in the next five years. Our intention by 2030, at least 90% of our country, must access electricity,” he said.

Thirty-five-year-old Gethenian Habis, who lives in Alamur, an agricultural village near Gavassya, the main city in southern Ethiopia, is one of those who can make the difference he can.

Her life reflects the life of millions of others in rural Ethiopia.

Despite the small, dirty straw house, which was 10 km from Havassi, Mrs. Hetels, her husband and her three children have no access to electricity.

For cooking, she collects firewood around her farm nearby.

And for light they use gas lamps. Her husband, Hermes Galch, is concerned about her family’s health.

“(Hetels) used to be big and beautiful eyes. But all these years the smoke is damaged. They have become watery,” he said.

“I worry what I would do if the couple suffocates my children.”

For the lady, Getesh, which, when dark, sometimes rests on the light light from her husband’s mobile phone, just able to see at night what she dreams of.

“I want to see the light in my home. All other electric goods are not important now. Just light in the evening – all I want,” she says BBC.

They look forward to the difference that can make the force from Gerd. But the Minister of Government, Habtama, admits that much more should be made to expand the national power grid infrastructure.

Tens of thousands of cable kilometers still have to be laid to ensure that small cities and distant villages can be bound.

But for the engineer, Mr. Mogez, the power obtained on the blue Nile eventually change the situation.

He has a son, who was born while he worked on the dam.

“I hate the fact that I couldn’t be near it as I needed,” he says. “But I know that his future will be bright because I contributed, and I am so proud to say to him that when he grows.”

Additional reporting by Anna themeari