Ethiopians will no longer be in the dark.
Those are the words of the Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, at the grand opening of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam—now, the largest dam in Africa.
The dam will change Ethiopia forever. And some countries—including the United States—don’t like it.
Ethiopia’s total power supply will double thanks to the new dam. The electrical output generated from the structure will be 5,150 megawatts. That means some 60 percent of Ethiopians who currently do not have electricity will finally be able to turn the lights on at night. All Ethiopians will now have electric power in their homes, a luxury Americans have enjoyed for over a century.
None of this could’ve happened without Italy.
Italian engineers and contractors played an outsized role in building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
Since the early 2000s, Italy has been at the forefront to help reshape Ethiopia’s future by reshaping Ethiopia’s rivers. From the highlands of Lake Tana to the tumultuous waters of the Blue Nile, Italy’s imprint on African hydropower is unmistakable.
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The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a $4.8 billion endeavor on the Blue Nile, is the most ambitious hydroelectric project ever attempted in Africa. Nearly all that money—funded by Ethiopian bonds purchased by that country’s people—went to pay Italy’s top civil engineering company, WeBuild.
Once named Salini Impregilo—today known as Webuild—the company is led by CEO Pietro Salini. Italian engineers managed excavation, concrete pouring, and spillway design in Ethiopia. Alongside them, Milan-based ELC-Electroconsult partnered with France’s Coyne et Bellier to provide design review and supervision. GERD’s Ethiopian project manager, Simegnew Bekele, became a national hero, but much of the foreign expertise was Italian.
The dam comes with reservoir of controversy, including hints of war between two African countries. Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, claimed GERD an existential threat to his country. He won support from President Donald Trump for diplomatic intervention to stop the dam, or, at least, delays its construction. Trump went so far as to declare —in 2020—that Egypt will bomb the dam, if constructed.
The Nile River, forever associated with Egypt, has as its primary source the Blue Nile that originates in Ethiopia. GERD will create a massive reservoir near the point where the river enters Sudan to flow north into Egypt. The restriction of the Nile could negatively affect Egypt’s water supply. Egypt has only the Nile as its sole source for drinking water and water for agriculture.
How far Egypt might have gone to stop the building of the dam could be the death of project manager, Simegnew Bekele, in July 2018. Killed from gunshot, police in Ethiopia ruled the engineer’s death a suicide, although many believe foul play was at hand. Theories abound that Egypt may have sent one or more assassins to murder Bekele, in hopes of delaying the dam’s construction.
The work of Italian engineers and Ethiopian contractors and workers completed the construction of GERD on September 9, 2025. A massive celebration of parades and speeches came with its official inauguration, include a night time fireworks display.
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The Omo Cascade
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Ethiopia to lend support for the large project. Africa has become a major source of revenue for Italian engineering and infrastructure companies. Pietro Salini has seen his company—WeBuild—based in Rozzano, near Milan, design and engineer Ethiopia’s mega projects.
Before GERD, Salini’s name was already etched into Ethiopia’s landscape. The Omo River cascade—Gilgel Gibe II, Gilgel Gibe III, and now the massive Koysha Dam—was largely built under Italian direction.
• Gilgel Gibe II, completed in 2010, relied on a 26-kilometer head race tunnel blasted through volcanic rock. Italian engineers handled both the boring and the repair when a section collapsed shortly after inauguration.
• Gilgel Gibe III, Africa’s tallest roller-compacted concrete dam, rose under Italian supervision, with Studio Pietrangeli, founded by Roman engineer Franco Pietrangeli, providing detailed design.
• Koysha, still nearing completion, continues the pattern: Webuild builds; Italian engineers design; Ethiopia gains a new 2,200 MW of power.
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The Lake Tana Link
In 2010, the Tana-Beles Hydropower Project came online, diverting water from Lake Tana into underground tunnels and a powerhouse carved from the rock. Studio Pietrangeli served as lead designer, while Salini executed the civil works. The project showcased Italy’s ability to combine advanced engineering with bold geography.
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A Legacy of Italian Expertise
The story is not only corporate but personal. Pietro Salini transformed his family’s firm into a global contractor by betting on Ethiopia. Franco Pietrangeli brought Italian dam-design expertise across the Mediterranean, leaving behind structures that remain benchmarks in the profession. Generations of Italian engineers, project managers, and geologists have lived in Ethiopia, lending their know-how to a nation intent on electrifying its future.
Italian involvement also included financing. Rome’s development funds helped underwrite Gilgel Gibe II, tying Italy’s government to the fortunes of Ethiopia’s hydro sector. For Italy, these projects offered contracts and influence; for Ethiopia, they provided power, though not without controversy over displaced communities and Nile-basin politics.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was a very large, multi-contractor project, and Webuild (formerly Salini Impregilo) was the lead civil-works contractor. Here’s a breakdown of exactly what Webuild did.
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Civil Engineering & Main Works
• Design & construction of the dam body:
Webuild built the main roller-compacted concrete (RCC) gravity dam, which is 1,800 meters long and 155 meters high. They also built the saddle (secondary) dam made of rockfill, about 5 km long.
• Excavation & foundations:
Excavation of massive volumes of rock and preparation of the riverbed to stabilize and anchor the dam.
• Concrete placement:
Webuild managed the placement of more than 10 million cubic meters of concrete — all produced domestically in Ethiopia but managed and engineered by Webuild teams.
• Cofferdams & river diversion:
Built temporary dams and diversion channels to redirect the Blue Nile during construction phases.
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Hydraulic & Hydropower Infrastructure
• Spillways:
Webuild constructed spillways to safely release floodwater.
• Powerhouse civil works:
The structures that house the turbines (supplied separately by Chinese firms like Voith Hydro/Sinohydro consortium) were built by Webuild.
• Intake structures & tunnels:
Constructed the massive intake channels/tunnels that guide water from the reservoir to the turbines.
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Supporting Works & Logistics
• Roads and camps:
Built roads, bridges, and worker camps in a remote area to sustain a workforce that peaked at 25,000.
• Quarries and material plants:
Managed local quarries for aggregates, and operated cement batching plants to supply continuous material.
• Coordination with subcontractors:
Oversaw local subcontractors and suppliers, ensuring integration with Ethiopian labor and resources.
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What WeBuild Did Not Provide
• Turbines & electromechanical systems:
These were primarily supplied and installed by Chinese companies (Voith Hydro, Dongfang Electric, and Sinohydro).
• Financing:
GERD was almost entirely financed domestically by Ethiopia — Italy did not finance it.
WeBuild was responsible for the physical dam structures, all major civil engineering, and the integration of hydropower facilities, while Ethiopian labor provided the majority of manpower and Chinese partners provided much of the turbine/electrical equipment.
Editor’s Note: The above images represent the construction and politics of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Two pictures of the dam, a map displays the new dam's location and effect on the Nile, Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, meets with President Donald Trump at the White House, where they discussed the consequences of Ethiopia's new dam, the prime minister of Ethiopia, Ayib Ahmed, greets Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, the project manager, Simegnew Bekele, killed himself in 2018, say authorities, although some believe foul play was the cause, Pietro Salini is the CEO of Milan-based WeBuild, the company that designed and engineered the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, where a massive fireworks show inaugurated its completion on September 13.
To find out the latest project of WeBuild, please visit their web site at https://www.webuildgroup.com
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