United States President Donald Trump repeated a demonstrably false claim at Davos in January 2026, asserting that America "stupidly financed" Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). The claim has been categorically denied by Ethiopian officials, yet Addis Ababa has remained conspicuously silent on the international stage.
The facts are unambiguous. The GERD, a $5 billion hydroelectric project on the Blue Nile, was funded entirely through Ethiopian government bonds, diaspora contributions, and domestic taxation over 14 years of construction. No American money was involved in the core construction, according to the GERD Coordination Office.
"This is Ethiopia's project, built by Ethiopia, for Ethiopia," says Dr. Aklilu Dalelo, a development economist at Addis Ababa University. "The claim that the US financed it is not just wrong—it erases the sacrifice of millions of Ethiopians who contributed to this national endeavor."
Yet Ethiopia's government has not issued a forceful international rebuttal. No press conference, no UN statement, no diplomatic pushback. The silence has allowed Egypt to leverage Trump's falsehood to intensify pressure for a binding agreement that would grant Cairo effective veto power over GERD operations and future Ethiopian dam projects.
Egypt has long sought to enforce colonial-era treaties from 1929 and 1959 that allocated the majority of Nile water to Egypt and Sudan, leaving upstream nations like Ethiopia with no allocation whatsoever. Addis Ababa has consistently rejected these agreements as illegitimate vestiges of colonialism.
The dam, which began generating power in 2022, represents Ethiopia's ambitions for energy independence and economic development. With a capacity of 6,450 megawatts, it's Africa's largest hydroelectric facility. But negotiations with Egypt over filling protocols and drought management have been deadlocked for years.
Trump's renewed intervention comes at a delicate moment. Washington has historically positioned itself as a broker between Ethiopia and Egypt, but the false claim undermines American credibility and emboldens Egyptian hardliners who want international pressure on Addis Ababa.
Some Ethiopian analysts suggest the government's silence is strategic—avoiding escalation with a mercurial American administration while focusing on African Union mediation. Others see it as a missed opportunity to set the record straight and rally international support for Ethiopia's sovereign water rights.
"Silence doesn't serve truth," says Dr. Dalelo. "When misinformation spreads at the highest levels, it becomes part of the diplomatic record. Ethiopia needs to speak loudly and clearly."
The GERD represents more than infrastructure—it's a symbol of African agency and rejection of colonial-era water allocations. How Ethiopia navigates this moment will determine not just the dam's future, but the precedent for resource sovereignty across the continent.
54 countries, 2,000 languages, 1.4 billion people. This is one story about who gets to control Africa's rivers—and who gets to tell the truth about them.
