Ethiopia’s role in stabilising Kenya’s power supply is set to expand following the completion of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), launched Tuesday this week. 

Kenya has in recent years increasingly relied on Ethiopia to plug power generation gaps in its energy sector, supplying nearly 10 per cent of the power consumed in the country. President William Ruto indicated that Kenya could be increasing this with new planned agreements, and to secure the trade, he has offered to mediate talks between Ethiopia and Egypt, with the latter rattled that GERD might affect water flows on the Nile, its key source of fresh water.