Tanzania Inaugurates 2,115-Megawatt Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project

President Samia Suluhu Hassan inaugurated the Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP) on Saturday, August 22, 2026, in the Rufiji District of Tanzania's Coast Region. The 2,115-megawatt facility, located on the Rufiji River, was financed by the Tanzanian government at a cost of approximately $2.8 billion to $2.9 billion. Constructed between June 2019 and March 2025, the project was executed by an Egyptian consortium comprising Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric, utilizing a workforce of 12,000 employees, including 1,700 Egyptian specialists.

As of May 31, 2026, the plant already provides roughly 44.9% of the electricity fed into the national grid. Tanzania intends to use the dam to drive industrialization, regulate water flows, mitigate flood risks, and engage in regional electricity trade with the East and Southern African Power Pools.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attended the ceremony on behalf of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Madbouly framed the project as a model of Egyptian-African cooperation and a demonstration of Egyptian engineering expertise. He explicitly stated that the project's success "refutes previous claims that Egypt opposes development in Nile Basin countries," provided such development does not harm downstream nations. This assertion comes amid stalled negotiations and ongoing tensions between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.