Ethiopian officials have rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that the United States played a financial role in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), reiterating that the multibillion-dollar hydropower project was built without external funding.

The GERD Coordination Office announced that the dam has been constructed 100 percent with the capacity of the Ethiopian government and people. In the most recent budget year, the office collected 1.7 billion birr—7% more than anticipated. Since construction began, over 23.6 billion birr has been raised from the public, with power and irrigation works valued at more than 84.4 billion birr completed

Fikrte Tamir, deputy director of the GERD Coordination Office, said the project has been entirely domestically financed since construction began in 2011.

“For 14 years, not a cent of foreign aid or loans has gone into this dam,” she said at a press briefing in Addis Ababa. “The dam is a result of collective sacrifice — funded by Ethiopians through bond sales and public contributions.”

The remarks come in response to Trump’s recent comments in Washington, where he described the GERD as a “serious problem” for Egypt and suggested that the U.S. had funded its construction. He also called for a resolution to the dispute before further complications arise.

Ethiopia has long insisted that GERD is a sovereign development project and a matter of national pride. In Parliament last month, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that the dam will be inaugurated this September, marking the completion of one of the most contentious infrastructure projects in Africa.

Abiy also extended a formal invitation to Egypt and Sudan to attend the inauguration, framing the event as a potential opening for renewed dialogue.

The $5 billion project, located near Ethiopia’s western border with Sudan, has been at the center of a decade-long diplomatic impasse. Egypt and Sudan have repeatedly raised concerns over the dam’s potential impact on downstream water flows, while Ethiopia maintains that the dam is critical to its economic growth and electrification efforts.