News

Ethiopian Diaspora In U.S. Raises Over $1.7mln For GERD

ADDIS ABABA – Members of the Ethiopian Diaspora Community in the U.S. have raised close to 1.76 million US Dollars for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) construction project.

“We have sent the contribution collected in the third round fund-raiser to Ethiopia,” said Fitsum Arega, Ambassador of Ethiopia to the U.S.



In addition to the 757,294.78 US dollars raised on Saturday, the ambassador said a total of 1,757,304 US dollars have been sent to finance the GERD construction project.

“The fundraising program will continue,” said Fitsum, who expressed members of the diaspora community for participating in financing development endeavors in the homeland.

The increase in energy is directly related to the socio-economic development in the country, said Ambassador Fitsum.

The construction of the $4.8 billion hydroelectric dam started in 2011. Since then, millions of Ethiopians are chipping in to finance the construction, which is more than 80 percent complete.

The dam being built on Abay River (Blue Nile) is expected to be crucial to Ethiopia’s economic development and providing power to its population.