MOGADISHU, Somalia – Ethiopian media outlets are giving wide coverage to remarks by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who has hailed Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as a transformative project for the Horn of Africa.
President Mohamud’s words are attracting attention not only for their content but also for their political resonance, given Somalia’s strengthening alliance with Egypt—one of the fiercest critics of the GERD.
In a recent interview with Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya television, Mohamud described the GERD as a project primarily designed to generate electricity. He called electricity “indispensable for development” and argued that from this perspective, the dam represents “a success.”
The Somali leader pointed out that Ethiopia already exports electricity to Kenya, Sudan, and Djibouti, presenting the GERD as both a national milestone and a regional engine for integration and growth.
Rising on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region near the Sudanese border, the GERD is Africa’s largest hydroelectric project. President Mohamud attended the official inauguration on September 9, 2025, alongside other African heads of state—a presence that Ethiopian outlets have highlighted as a powerful gesture of continental endorsement.
He also welcomed Ethiopia’s willingness to engage in dialogue with countries concerned about the dam’s impact, stressing that constructive talks could ensure shared benefits and strengthen regional cooperation.
The weight of Mohamud’s praise is magnified by Somalia’s increasingly close partnership with Egypt, which has consistently opposed the GERD. Cairo maintains that the project threatens downstream water security and has long demanded a binding agreement on how Ethiopia fills and operates the reservoir. Egyptian officials have warned that unilateral steps could endanger the country’s vital Nile water supply.
Against that backdrop, Somalia’s president publicly calling the GERD a “success” marks a striking divergence from Egypt’s narrative. Ethiopian media have seized on the moment, presenting Mohamud’s endorsement as symbolic proof of wider regional acceptance.
For them, Somalia’s stance demonstrates that even a country aligned with Egypt views the dam not as a destabilizing threat, but as a catalyst for development and unity across the Horn of Africa.
By amplifying his remarks, Ethiopia seeks to bolster its case that the GERD is far more than a national achievement—it is a shared continental triumph.