Tanzania inaugurated the Julius Nyerere hydropower dam on Saturday, August 22, 2026, one of the largest energy projects ever completed on the African continent. The ceremony took place at the project site in Rufiji District, Coast Region, in the presence of President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who attended on behalf of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Built on the Rufiji River, the structure is striking in scale. The main concrete dam stretches over a kilometer and rises 131 meters high. Its reservoir can hold roughly 34 billion cubic meters of water, making it the fourth-largest artificial lake in the country. Nine turbines, each with a capacity of 235 megawatts, bring the plant’s total installed capacity to 2,115 megawatts, ranking it as East Africa’s largest hydropower station.
Construction began in June 2019 and wrapped up in March 2025, after forty-two months of intensive work. Contrary to what the project’s framing sometimes suggests, its roughly 7.452 trillion Tanzanian shillings price tag, close to $2.9 billion, was financed entirely by the Tanzanian government. The build itself was carried out by an Egyptian consortium made up of Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric, under an engineering, procurement and construction contract signed in December 2018. Chinese firms, including PowerChina and Dongfang Electric, also took part in the works, supplying the turbines and creating around 14,000 local jobs during construction.
Long before the formal ceremony, the plant was already a major contributor to the national grid. According to the Ministry of Energy, it supplied about 44.9% of the electricity fed into Tanzania’s grid over the twelve months ending in late May 2026. Thanks to this single site, the country’s total power-generation capacity now stands at roughly 4,646 megawatts.
In her remarks, President Samia Suluhu Hassan addressed criticism that had long surrounded the project, particularly concerns over whether transmission infrastructure would be sufficient to carry the electricity produced. She noted that the government had kept investing in this area, pointing to the recently completed 400-kilovolt line linking Chalinze and Dodoma, energized on August 20. That link now allows power from the dam to reach the country’s political capital.
For his part, the Egyptian prime minister described the completed project as the realization of a great Tanzanian dream, calling it proof of Egyptian companies’ ability to carry out major infrastructure projects across the continent. He urged both countries to deepen economic cooperation beyond the energy sector, referencing discussions held during President al-Sisi’s visit to Dar es Salaam on July 18.
Beyond power generation, Tanzanian authorities present the dam as a tool for flood control, irrigation, tourism and domestic water supply along the Rufiji River. The project is part of the country’s National Development Vision 2050, which aims to build a reliable energy system capable of supporting industrialization and economic growth.
One caveat is worth noting, however. Since the Rufiji is a seasonal river, tying such a large share of the national grid to a single hydropower site leaves Tanzania’s electricity supply exposed to rainfall variation, a factor that industry experts continue to watch closely.