ETHIOPIA’S GIBE 3 DAM IN VIOLATION OF AfDB POLICIES

WHEN:    Wednesday, May 13 at 12:30pm

WHERE:    AfDB Conference Center, Room C103, Dakar, Senegal

SPEAKERS:    

Ikal Angelei, Chair, Friends of Lake Turkana, Kenya

Mamadou Goita, Executive Director, Institute for Research and the    Promotion of Alternatives in Development, Mali

Robert Kugonza, Coordinator, African Rivers Network, Uganda

Sena Alouka, Director, Jeunes Volontaires pour l'Environnement, Togo

The $2.1 billion Gibe 3 Dam on the Omo River in Southern Ethiopia is the country’s largest infrastructure project, Africa’s tallest dam, and one of the biggest investments ever considered for support by the African Development Bank (AfDB). The bank, which currently holds its annual meeting in Dakar, plans to vote on the project in June 2009.

African civil society groups believe the Gibe 3 Dam will have devastating impacts on 500,000 people in Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya, the environment, and potentially on Ethiopia’s economy. Friends of Lake Turkana and International Rivers have already filed two complaints with the AfDB’s independent investigative unit, claiming that the project violates five bank policies.