Over the past almost decade and a half, more than 20 billion Br has been collected for the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), disclosed the project coordination office. Of this amount, all but two billion Birr, came from the sale of bonds and donations from Ethiopian citizens, while over one billion Birr was raised through bonds and gifts from the Diaspora. The Office also reported that over one billion Birr was obtained from various other sources. The foundation plaque for the GERD was laid on April 2, 2011, in the Benishangul Gumuz Regional State. The initial plan was to generate 5200Mw of electric power. The completion target was five years. However, as of last week, the dam remains under construction after 14 years. The Project Office disclosed that over 800 million Br was collected in the past eight months. This includes over half a billion Birr from bonds and gifts from Ethiopians and nearly 43 million Br from Diaspora contributions. During the same period, 112 million Br was collected through 8100 short mobile messages, and over 110 million Br was collected through the Ethiopian Electric Power gift collection bank account. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) told MPs three weeks ago that the GERD, with construction reportedly nearing completion, is expected to be inaugurated within the next six months.

[ssba-buttons]