June 20 , 2025
The Fourth Annual Forum for Regional Integration and Reasonable Utilization of the Nile (AFRIRUN IV) was held at the Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa on Tuesday (June 17) under the theme “Regional Power Connectivity for Inclusive and Sustainable Development.” The annual gathering, organized by the Institute of Foreign Affairs in partnership with the Ethiopian Electric Power and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, brought together government officials, policy experts, think tanks, academics, and representatives from the private sector from Ethiopia and around the world.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedion Timothewos, in his opening remarks, stated that hundreds of millions of Africans live without access to electricity. He said electricity is not just a commodity but rather a transformative tool to ensure the provision of public goods and aspires to meet the regional integration and cooperation Agenda 2063. Cognizant of this fact, FM Gedion stated that regional power connectivity for inclusive and sustainable development is the cornerstone of our shared future as African nations.
According to him, access to reliable and equitable energy must serve as the bedrock for sustainable industrialization, job creation, and climate resilience through shared infrastructure, harmonized policies, and cross-border energy trade to fulfill the ambitions of the shared continental agenda. The forum’s theme, he added, implies the fact that connectivity’s pivotal role in effecting inclusive and sustainable development is not a mere economic enterprise but also a cornerstone of our shared future as a continent. He concluded his remarks with a call to action to collectively harness our collective to “light our homes, empower our economies, and inspire our youth.”
Minister of Water and Energy, Habtamu Itefa, addressing the participants, said that investing in the energy sector and, subsequently, in power connectivity is the future of the Horn and Eastern Africa. “If we come together and cooperate,” Habtamu stated, “We will enjoy the blessings of our power options and diverse potentials.”
Jafar Bedru, the Executive Director of IFA, during his address, stated that reliable, affordable, and sustainable sources of energy are crucial to development both at home and in the region. He stated that regional power connectivity is not an end in itself but also a pathway to a broader development agenda. Renewable energy, he added, has the potential to reframe the green transition—not as a zero-sum race—but as a platform for regional integration, shared prosperity, and enduring peace. In this regard, the ED said that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is not only generating electricity at the moment but also boosting confidence in Africa’s capacity to chart its own course with a shared and timely understanding that regional integration, fueled by cross-border connectivity, is no longer a distant dream.
The Former Executive Director of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) Secretariat, Michael Kizza, for his part stated that the forum significantly contributes to resolving the fragmented regional efforts into a coordinated approach that benefits all and echoes the “One River, One People, and One Vision” of the NBI.
Afterward, the Afri-RUN event featured two key panel discussions themed “Regional Energy Integration and Connectivity: Policy and Governance” and “Issues in Sustainable Electrification and Renewable Energy.”
The CEO of Ethiopian Electric Power, Ashebir Balcha, in his closing remarks expressed his gratitude to the organizers and the participants for the successful event and stated that through the multisectoral Home-Grown Economic Reforms, the GERD is evolving into a catalyst for regional integration, addressing energy needs while extending power to Djibouti, Sudan, and Kenya, with plans for Tanzania, Somalia, and South Sudan.