በሕዳሴው ግድብ ምረቃ ላይ የኬኒያው ፕሬዚዳንት ዊሊያም ሩቶ ያደረጉት ንግግር — Transcript

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1. 0:00Your Excellency, my brother, Prime
2. 0:02Minister, Dr. Abby Ahmed.
3. 0:06Excellencies, heads of state and
4. 0:08government, honorable ministers,
5. 0:11distinguished guests, ladies and
6. 0:13gentlemen, it is my singular honor and
7. 0:16deep privilege to address you on this
8. 0:19important occasion, the inauguration of
9. 0:22the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a
10. 0:26moment of monumental significance.
11. 0:31I congratulate the government and the
12. 0:33people of the Federal Republic of
13. 0:34Ethiopia on this historic achievement.
14. 0:40The Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam is
15. 0:42not only a feat of engineering ambition.
16. 0:46It is also a bold affirmation of
17. 0:48Africa's capacity to shape its own
18. 0:51destiny, marshall its resources and
19. 0:54deliver transformative infrastructure in
20. 0:57pursuit of prosperity.
21. 1:01Today,
22. 1:03as we celebrate this milestone, we also
23. 1:06reaffirm the enduring bonds of
24. 1:08brotherhood, cooperation, and shared
25. 1:10vision that unite our nations across the
26. 1:14Horn of Africa and the wider Nile basin.
27. 1:18Kenya remains committed to working with
28. 1:21Ethiopia, a key regional partner, as it
29. 1:24takes this leap towards energy
30. 1:26sufficiency and economic transformation.
31. 1:31Your excellencies,
32. 1:32the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is
33. 1:35not merely a national project. It is a
34. 1:38Panaffrican statement.
35. 1:42It exemplifies the scale and ambition of
36. 1:44African-led infrastructure and aligns
37. 1:48with Africa's
38. 1:50Africa Union's vision of continental
39. 1:53energy connectivity.
40. 1:56Despite Africa's vast renewable
41. 1:58resources, the continent accounts for
42. 2:01only 6% of global energy use while
43. 2:06nearly half of Africans, over 600
44. 2:09million people still lack access to
45. 2:12electricity.
46. 2:14And close to 1 billion people also lack
47. 2:17clean cooking solutions with dire
48. 2:20consequences for public health,
49. 2:22education, and productivity.
50. 2:26These deficits disproportionately
51. 2:29affect women and children and hinder
52. 2:33inclusive development.
53. 2:35They drive up business costs, compromise
54. 2:39hospitals and schools operations and
55. 2:42constrain the life prospects of millions
56. 2:45particularly in rural and remote areas.
57. 2:50Africa's energy demand is set to rise
58. 2:53exponentially
59. 2:55driven by population growth and rapid
60. 2:58urbanization.
61. 3:00By 2030,
62. 3:02one in every five people globally will
63. 3:05live in our continent.
64. 3:07Meeting that demand sustainably will
65. 3:11require doubling current energy
66. 3:14investments with least with at least 2/3
67. 3:19directed towards clean energy like the
68. 3:22feat of engineering just behind us.
69. 3:26Supported by multilateral cooperation
70. 3:29and regional solidarity,
71. 3:31the Grand Ethiopian Renesis Dam provides
72. 3:33a blueprint for scaling similar projects
73. 3:37across Africa and bridging the
74. 3:39continent's energy divide.
75. 3:43Distinguished guests, Kenya's
76. 3:45partnership with Ethiopia on clean
77. 3:47energy is a living example of regional
78. 3:50integration.
79. 3:52In 2022,
80. 3:54Kenya began importing 200 megawatts of
81. 3:57hydroelect electric power from Ethiopia
82. 3:59under a 25-year hydro uh power purchase
83. 4:03agreement.
84. 4:05This power is transmitted through a
85. 4:091,045
86. 4:10kilometer Ethiopia Kenya
87. 4:13interconnector, a vital component of
88. 4:17East Africa's power pool.
89. 4:21Beyond affordability,
90. 4:23this energy unstable supply enhances
91. 4:26grid reliability, particularly during
92. 4:29droughts when hydro power output is
93. 4:32volatile with Kenya's peak demand
94. 4:35exceeding 2,300
95. 4:38megawatt and rising. This additional
96. 4:41capacity strengthens our reserve margins
97. 4:44and reduces supply deficits.
98. 4:48I have already had a conversation with
99. 4:50prime minister that we will be having an
100. 4:53extended conversation
101. 4:55on whatever reserve power that is
102. 4:58available from this dam. We are ready to
103. 5:01sign a power purchase agreement so that
104. 5:04we can take off take some of the power
105. 5:07from this
106. 5:09important dam.
107. 5:11Reliability is especially critical for
108. 5:14special economic zones, industrial
109. 5:16parks, ICT hubs, and agroprocessing
110. 5:19facilities, all of which require
111. 5:22consistent and affordable power to drive
112. 5:26Kenya's development agenda.
113. 5:29Additionally, this cooperation advances
114. 5:32Kenya's climate and development goals
115. 5:34with more than 90% of our electricity
116. 5:37already sourced from renewable sources.
117. 5:40We remain committed to achieving 100%
118. 5:43clean energy mix by 2030.
119. 5:46The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
120. 5:49strengthens this transition by
121. 5:52integrating zero emission power into our
122. 5:55grid and reducing reliance and on fossil
123. 5:59fuels. Importantly,
124. 6:02it also supports Kenya national
125. 6:04development priorities under vision 2030
126. 6:07and the bottom-up economic
127. 6:09transformation agenda by expanding
128. 6:11access in undeserved regions, empowering
129. 6:15young people and women entrepreneurs and
130. 6:19promoting green industrialization.
131. 6:22Excellencies,
132. 6:24allow me to restate Kenya's commitment
133. 6:27to constructive engagement in the wider
134. 6:30Nile basin discourse. We recognize the
135. 6:34Nile centrality to the lives and
136. 6:37livelihoods of millions.
137. 6:39Its shared use must be governed by
138. 6:42principles of equity, sustainability,
139. 6:45cooperation,
140. 6:46and mutual respect.
141. 6:50Kenya is firmly committed to
142. 6:52safeguarding collective interests while
143. 6:56working with brothers and sisters in our
144. 7:00region. We believe that no country
145. 7:04should be denied the opportunity to
146. 7:06unlock a huge resource like the one that
147. 7:10we are launching today because indeed it
148. 7:13becomes a shared resource.
149. 7:16Ladies and gentlemen, we believe
150. 7:22we commend the progress that has been
151. 7:25achieved
152. 7:27and urge continued
153. 7:30cooperation between all our countries.
154. 7:33And I want to commend
155. 7:36the people,
156. 7:38government,
157. 7:39and more particularly my brother, Prime
158. 7:41Minister Abby, for this monumental
159. 7:46achievement.
160. 7:49Listening to you, Prime Minister Abby,
161. 7:52you not only inspire your own people in
162. 7:54Ethiopia,
163. 7:56you inspire our people in the region.
164. 7:59[Applause]
165. 8:05Knowing very well that the sweat and
166. 8:10blood
167. 8:11and energy and effort and resources that
168. 8:16have been put in the development of this
169. 8:20dam
170. 8:22was as a result of mo uh locally
171. 8:26mobilized resources.
172. 8:29Money raised by Ethiopians to build this
173. 8:34monumental project
174. 8:37gives us confidence of the ability of us
175. 8:42as a people to take charge and command
176. 8:45our own development into the future.
177. 8:52The fact that you have raised $5 billion
178. 8:57without debt,
179. 9:00without borrowing,
180. 9:02without support from others
181. 9:08makes us believe that indeed
182. 9:12Africa
183. 9:14can take charge of its own destiny.
184. 9:21I want to encourage you, Prime Minister
185. 9:22Abby, as my brother, continue to do what
186. 9:26you're doing.
187. 9:27You're doing the right thing.
188. 9:30And if you are in doubt at any one
189. 9:32moment, let me confirm to you, you are
190. 9:35doing the right thing.
191. 9:38Continue doing this because
192. 9:42our future
193. 9:44is going to be dictated by what we do.
194. 9:48the vision we carry, the hopes of our
195. 9:52people that we turn into reality as you
196. 9:55are doing in this dam. Your brothers and
197. 9:58sisters in Kenya, I will give you an
198. 10:00example. Two years ago, we decided that
199. 10:04we are going to get millions of our
200. 10:08people. In fact, 7 million of Kenyans
201. 10:11live in slums and we decided that we are
202. 10:15going to give dignity to our people and
203. 10:18we are going to build houses for them. I
204. 10:22am happy that Ethiopia in your vision is
205. 10:25going to build a million and a half
206. 10:27houses. We are also on that journey.
207. 10:30Already we have 700,000 housing units on
208. 10:34the pipeline. We are already
209. 10:36constructing 170,000
210. 10:39houses as I talk to you. And Kenyans
211. 10:43from their own resources without debt
212. 10:46without support from others have raised
213. 10:50$4 billion worth of projects under the
214. 10:53housing program. It confirms to you that
215. 10:57what you are doing in Ethiopia is what
216. 10:59we are doing in Kenya and that is what
217. 11:01we should be doing in our region. That
218. 11:04way we can emancipate our people from
219. 11:09debt
220. 11:11from begging across borders and take
221. 11:14charge of our own development.
222. 11:17This moment must remind us that the path
223. 11:22to peace and prosperity lies in working
224. 11:26together,
225. 11:28not division, in partnership, not lily,
226. 11:32and in unity, not isolation. Together,
227. 11:36we can transform our region, harness our
228. 11:39shared resources, and shape a future of
229. 11:43dignity and opportunity for all our
230. 11:47people. I thank you. God bless Ethiopia
231. 11:52and God bless our region. Thank you very
232. 11:55much.