NAIROBI (Reuters) -Ethiopia officially inaugurates Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam on Tuesday, a project that will provide energy to millions of Ethiopians while deepening a rift with downstream Egypt that has unsettled the region.

Ethiopia, the continent’s second most populous nation with a population of 120 million, sees the $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on a tributary of the River Nile as central to its ambitions for economic development.

Begun in 2011, the dam’s power generation should eventually rise to 5,150 MW from the 750 MW that its two active turbines are already producing.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said Ethiopia will use the energy to improve Ethiopians’ access to electricity while also exporting surplus power to the region.

‘BLOWING UP THAT DAM’

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