Ethiopia launches Africa's largest hydroelectric dam

Ethiopia launched Africa's largest hydroelectric project on Tuesday that has promised to revolutionise the country's energy sector.

For Ethiopia, the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) is a national project of historic scale and a rare unifying symbol in a country torn apart by ongoing internal conflicts.

Towering 145 metres (476 feet) high and stretching nearly two kilometres (1.2 miles) across the Blue Nile near the Sudanese border, the $4-billion megastructure is designed to hold 74 billion cubic metres of water and generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity - more than double Ethiopia's current capacity.

That makes it the largest dam by power capacity in Africa, though still outside the top 10 globally.

High-profile guests

Images on state media showed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed touring the site early Tuesday with Kenyan President William Ruto, Somalia's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and African Union chief Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

The festivities began the night before with a dazzling display of lanterns, lasers and drones writing slogans like "geopolitical rise" and "a leap into the future", watched by Abiy who has made the project a cornerstone of his rule.