Ethiopia launches Africa’s largest dam as neighbors eye power imports

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia -- Ethiopia on Tuesday inaugurated Africa’s largest dam to boost the economy, end frequent blackouts and support the growth of electric vehicle development in a country that has banned the importation of gasoline-powered vehicles. As reservoir waters flowed into the turbines of the Grand Renaissance Dam , Ethiopians dressed in colorful regalia viewed the ceremony on large screens across the capital, Addis Ababa, and celebrated the achievement with dancing to traditional music. “We will have enough power to charge our electric vehicles from the new dam,” said Belay Tigabu, a bus driver in Addis Ababa’s main bus terminal. The almost $5 billion mega-dam, located on a tributary of the River Nile in the northwest of the country, near the border with Sudan, will produce mor