Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Managing Complexities Using ICCPM

This report examines the complexity issues surrounding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project, focusing on its alignment with the International Centre for Complex Project Management (ICCPM) issues. It highlights the challenges faced by the project, including strong opposition from Egypt due to concerns about Nile water quotas, political threats, and potential violations of water laws. The report identifies how ICCPM principles, such as addressing stakeholder expectations, managing political influence, and dealing with uncertainties, can be applied to mitigate these complexities. It further suggests using tools like SWOT and PESTLE analysis to minimize project risks and enhance success. The report concludes that aligning project strategies with ICCPM issues is crucial for the successful completion of the GERD project, which aims to be a major source of electricity for adjacent nations, emphasizing the importance of international cooperation and addressing the concerns of all stakeholders.

Running Head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1
Complex project management
Student’s Name
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University
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................2
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.....................................................................................3
Complexity issues experienced.....................................................................................................3
ICCPM ISSUES.............................................................................................................................5
Alignment of GERD issues with iccm issues...............................................................................6
Tools and techniques for minimizing GERD complexities........................................................8
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................9
References.......................................................................................................................................9

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INTRODUCTION
This report is going to focus on the complexity issues of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
(GERD). The main purpose of this report is to align the complexity issues of Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam with the issues pertaining the International Centre for Complex Project
Management (ICCPM).
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
The construction of the dam commenced in April the year 2011. It’s situated on the longest
tributary of river Nile that is the Blue Nile which is adjacent to the border with Sudan (Madani et
al, .2015). The United States Bureau of Reclamation was responsible for the choice of the site
where the dam is located together with the feasibility studies conducted between 1956 and 1964
that led to the final decision for the establishment of the dam on the Blue Nile.

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Complexity issues experienced
Strong opposition from Egypt.
Egypt is opposing the construction of the dam with a claim that it violates its Egypt’s quota of
Nile water (Petersen-Perlman, Veilleux and Wolf, 2017). Egypt compares this violation as
equivalent to a deadly war against 80million people. This reveals the strong attachment between
Egypt and the Nile.
Egypt is also opposing the construction of the dam because it perceives it as a threat to the
Egyptian’s legal, historical and cultural rights to the Nile.
Threats from the Egyptian politicians
In the year 2013, the Egypt’s president Morsi send a clear warning to the Ethiopian government
concerning the construction of the dam (Hussein, 2018). He outlined that if the dam resulted to
the drop in water level in the Nile which would automatically have a great impact to the
Egyptians who rely on river Nile for Irrigation, there would be a serious war where blood shall
be shed.
Violation of the water laws
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam would be the biggest dam in Africa which shall have a
huge impact on the equal distribution of the Nile between Ethiopia and Egypt (Abdelhady et al,.
2015). It would result to unequal distribution of water hence violating the modern water
regulations which demands equal apportionment of water between two adjacent countries.

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ICCPM ISSUES
The International Centre for Complex Project Management is the global body that offers support
in the delivery of complex projects (Kerzner, and Kerzner, 2017). It provides training to the
professionals and various organizations in all the industries and sectors of the government to
enable them acquire unique skills to effectively deal with the complexities experienced in the
project environments.
The International Centre for Complex Project Management deal with various issues in the
project such as:
Stake holder expectations which are unrealistic
The stake holders may have a lot of expectations for the project outcome but end up been
disappointed hence ICCM guides them on how to react in such circumstances.
Multiple perceptions of the stakeholders
During the project, the stake holders usually have a multiple of ideas regarding the progress of
the project, ICCM plays a critical role in outlining the effective strategies they can use to harness
their ideas to enhance the success of the project.
Insufficient budget for the project
This is usually the most hectic issue that affect the progress of a project. ICCM outlines various
strategies to be used in such scenarios to prevent the project failure.

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Political influence
Most projects are usually affected by small and big politics within the country (Yihdego, Khalil
and Salem, 2017). Big governmental projects face challenges because there are some leaders
who usually wish to interfere especially if the project may be a threat to their private
investments. ICCM provides guidance on how to handle such situations to enhance the success
of the project.
International issues
If a project have an influence to the adjacent nations, they usually come into support or hinder
the project depending with the extent to their economic development.

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Alignment of GERD issues with iccm issues.
The Gerd and ICCM issues can be aligned in the following ways to enhance the success of the
project despite of the complexities experienced
Addressing the ambiguity
The causes of the complexity should be identified, for instance the opposition GERD is facing
from Egypt. After identification of the cause, the project team should seek for the stake holders’
perceptions which may be influential in the process of identifying the final decision.
Provision of clear details
The project manager should have the clear facts of the issues that are prohibiting the success of
the project for effective action. For instance, GERD did not obtain any financial assistance from
the Egyptian government which was a clear indication of the resistance it got from Egypt hence
the project had to be supported by the Ethiopians and China which offered 30% financial aid.
This was a successful application of ICCM strategy in dealing with financial issues that usually
prevent the success of a project.

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Dealing with uncertainties.
The GERD project has a lot of uncertainties associated with it. Being the biggest dam to be in
Africa, it shall be holding over 74billion tons of water from river Nile hence the Egyptians at the
downstream are not sure whether they shall have sufficient water which is very crucial in their
lives as far as earning a living is concerned. The project team should formulate clear strategies
on how to address the impact of the dam to the Egyptians so as to prevent their government from
escalating any issues which might inhibit the success of the project.
Focusing on the potential impact of the project to the adjacent countries
The project team should deal with unpredictability in relation to the potential impact of the dam
to the adjacent so as to create an awareness which might change their perceptions in relation to
the project hence supporting it.
Focusing on the dynamics
According to Nicol (2017) the rapid changes in technology might pose a threat to the success of
the project hence the project team should align the project with the technological changes to
enhance the success of the project.
Appreciating the social structure
GERD is a project which has direct impact to Sudan and Egypt hence the project should not
interfere with their portion of the Nile at all (Berndtsson et al, .2017). This would ensure that
peace prevails between the three nations. This is an international issue in ICCM which has to be
tackled appropriately.

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Focusing on interrelations with various parties
There should be a good relationship between the stakeholders and the project team to enhance
efficient co-ordination of activities during the project.
Tools and techniques for minimizing GERD complexities.
SWOT Analysis
This shall be very effective in dealing with the threats and weaknesses to enhance the success of
the project. The project team shall also focus on the various available opportunities to enhance
the success of the project.
PESTLE Analysis
This shall enable the project team to deal accordingly with the external factors that have an
impact on the success of the project.
Conclusion
The success of any project depends on the alignment of the project strategy with the ICCM
issues. The dam shall be very useful because it shall be the major of electricity in the adjacent
nations hence the main reason why the other nations finally gave it a support in 2014 over a
meeting that was held in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.

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References
Abdelhady, D., Aggestam, K., Andersson, D.E., Beckman, O., Berndtsson, R., Palmgren, K.B.,
Madani, K., Ozkirimli, U., Persson, K.M. and Pilesjö, P., 2015. The Nile and the Grand
Ethiopian Renaissance Dam: Is there a meeting point between nationalism and
hydrosolidarity? Journal of Contemporary Water Research & Education, 155(1), pp.73-82.
Berndtsson, R., Madani, K., Aggestam, K. and Andersson, D.E., 2017. The Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam: Conflict and water diplomacy in the Nile Basin. Water diplomacy in action:
contingent approaches to managing complex water problems. Anthem Press, Boston, pp.253-
263.
Hussein, H., 2018. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the Nile Basin: implications for
Tran’s boundary water cooperation.pp90
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.pp70
Nicol, A., 2017. Collective action and political dynamics: Nile cooperation and Ethiopia’s Grand
Renaissance Dam. In Water Governance and Collective Action (pp. 33-45). Routledge.
Petersen-Perlman, J.D., Veilleux, J.C. and Wolf, A.T., 2017. International water conflict and
cooperation: challenges and opportunities. Water International, 42(2), pp.105-120.
Yihdego, Y., Khalil, A. and Salem, H.S., 2017. Nile Rivers Basin Dispute: Perspectives of the
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Global Journal of Human-Social Science
Research.PP60.