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Tanzania Inaugurates Filling Channel for New Julius Nyerere Dam

© AFP 2023 / NIPAH DENNISTanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan looks on while taking part in the African Development Bank Group Annual Meeting in Accra, Ghana, on May 25, 2022.
Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan looks on while taking part in the African Development Bank Group Annual Meeting in Accra, Ghana, on May 25, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 24.12.2022
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The $2.9 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP) consists of a dam and hydroelectric power plant at the Rufiji River in eastern Tanzania. After completion, it is expected to produce 5,920GWh of power annually, as well as control flooding along the river and enhance tourism.
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has officiated the opening ceremony of the diversion channel that will direct water into the Julius Nyerere Dam on Thursday, according to local media reports.

“I am sincerely grateful to God for allowing and giving me the ability as a leader of this country to proceed with this project […], when I took over the office the project was at 37% of its implementation but to date it has reached 78.68%,” the president said at the ceremony, as cited by local media. "This is a historic day towards the completion of this important project which places Tanzania on the world map.”

She stated that JNHPP is one of the largest hydroelectric projects on the continent, underlining that it will show the world that Tanzania is a powerful state, capable of implementing great projects, and will bring multiple benefits both to Tanzanians and to the country in general. According to the president, the dam's reservoir will be able to store sufficient volumes of water even during severe droughts. Among other advantages, it will also control flooding and ensure irrigation.
During the opening ceremony, the Minister for Energy January Makamba said that the process of filling the dam will follow the completion of the construction of the diversion channel. He highlighted that the opening of the diversion channel is an important step in the project's implementation, confirming that the progress was at 78.68% currently.
The Julius Nyerere Hydropower Station is a hydroelectric dam under construction at the Rufiji River in Stiegler’s Gorge in the Morogoro region, eastern Tanzania. It is expected to have an installed capacity of 2,115 megawatts. Construction started in 2019 and was initially scheduled to be finished by the end of 2022.
However, due to some disruptions in the delivery of construction materials caused by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the plan was cut short, and now the plant is expected to start operating in 2024.
The project is a joint venture of Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric, two Egyptian companies. According to Egyptian media, the Julius Nyerere dam project is one of the most important development projects implemented in Africa at a cost of $2.9 billion. The national mega project will provide clean power supply to more than 60 million Tanzanians.
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