Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialDevelopment Studies Association @devcomms.bsky.social · 11/08/2026📣 @globaldevinst.bsky.social have a taster course. Global Development in a Divided World, with Charis Enns from @manchester.ac.uk. Try this university course before you apply - 100% free! buff.ly/M3qJqTk 043
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialAVDB @avfchistory.bsky.social · 04/04/2026On 4 April 1981 Villa won 4-2 at Leicester, went top of the First Division and were six points clear with six to play. Ron Saunders' machine was running. Nothing was going to stop it. 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 #avfc buff.ly/IznBXpG 041
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialDr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 29/10/2025In their 2025 report on #ClimateChange, @thelancet.com finds that millions of people are already dying every year from the causes & effects of climate change. In the past decade, an average 546,000 people have died per year from increased heat alone — roughly one person every minute. 37941
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialGlobal Development Institute @globaldevinst.bsky.social · 18/09/2025With Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam operational, debates over the future of the Nile are entering a new phase In his open-access book, @tomlavers.bsky.social reveals how dam building has shaped Ethiopia’s international standing and unpacks the promises and perils of megaprojects - bit.ly/3Vk2yeB 036
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 10/09/2025blog.gdi.manchester.ac.uk/dams-power-a...blog.gdi.manchester.ac.ukDams, Power and the Politics of Ethiopia’s Renaissance - Global Development Institute Blogby Dr Tom Lavers, Reader in Politics, Global Development Institute More than 13 years after Ethiopia’s former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi laid its foundation stone, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam... 010
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 08/09/2025As #Ethiopia finally gets ready to inaugurate the #GERD, read about the history of Ethiopian dam building and the story of the GERD in this open access book (download link below) or a shorter thread below. 041
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 07/08/2025www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comTuition fees are rising again and nobody is happy – it’s time to actually fix our broken university sector | Zoe WilliamsThe figures simply don’t add up for higher education in England and Wales. Yet delusional politicians from all parties seem intent on avoiding the issue, says Guardian columnist Zoe Williams 010
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialNicolas Fulghum @nicolasfulghum.bsky.social · 24/07/2025🇨🇳 China installed 464 GW of solar capacity in the 12 months to June☀️ That's more than the total EU solar capacity as of 2024 (338 GW) and DOUBLE the total US solar capacity (229 GW). ...in just 12 months 619473
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialAVDB @avfchistory.bsky.social · 02/06/2025www.avfchistory.co.uk/aston-villa-... #avfcavfchistory.co.ukVilla and PSR 2024-25 | Aston Villa DatabaseA page dedicated to Aston Villa's 2024-25 compliance with Profit and Sustainability Rules including an overview of the 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 accounting periods and forecast for 2024-25 2102
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialDevelopment Studies Association @devcomms.bsky.social · 27/05/2025📣 REMINDER: @globaldevinst.bsky.social are hiring a permanent lecturer in the politics of development (open to subfield and regional specialisation) ⏰ Deadline is TOMORROW 28 May www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai... 034
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialGlobal Development Institute @globaldevinst.bsky.social · 13/05/2025There is still time to apply to join us as our new Lecturer in Politics and Development 👇 We are looking for candidates who can make significant contributions to research and research-informed teaching at GDI. Link: www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/internal/Job... Deadline: 28/05/2025 045
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialGlobal Development Institute @globaldevinst.bsky.social · 06/05/2025GDI is seeking to appoint a new Lecturer in Politics and Development to further enhance our teaching and research. We would particularly welcome applications from academics with expertise on the politics of gender in the global South. For more information and to apply: bit.ly/3YyAUwm 053
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialA Funny Old Game @sidlambert.bsky.social · 04/04/2025There’ll be no activity on this account for a couple of weeks. So I’ll leave you with my favourite Thunderbastard of all time, courtesy of Cheito Ramirez in 2004. Imagine getting the ball that far out and thinking: “I fancy my chances from here…” 917517
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialA Funny Old Game @sidlambert.bsky.social · 04/04/202533 years ago at White Hart Lane: Is that a peak Diego Maradona - or fleet-footed Aston Villa winger Tony Daley? 1504
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialBrett Christophers @brettchristophers.bsky.social · 31/03/2025What sort of owner might KKR be? The following (from Our Lives in their Portfolios) is what happened when KKR took over the municipal water network of Bayonne New Jersey.....ft.comThames Water selects KKR as preferred bidderPrivate equity interest comes as UK’s largest water utility is fighting to avoid renationalisation 33627
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialCatie Hausman @catiehausman.bsky.social · 24/03/2025"The world has never truly undergone an energy transition... Instead, the world has experienced a series of energy additions, where new fuels build atop the old, rising like a skyscraper under construction for more than 200 years." media.rff.org/documents/RF...media.rff.org 1124
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialWoldegiorgis G. Teklay @woldetigray.bsky.social · 12/03/2025The TPLF Office view Getachew Reda’s faction’s actions as an intraparty coup within the TPLF, comparing it to what Abiy Ahmed and his OroMara coalition did to the EPRDF in 2017–2018. From their perspective, what they are doing now is a counter-intraparty coup. 1/2 www.linkedin.com/pulse/tigray...linkedin.comTigray’s Power Struggle: From the Pretoria Agreement to the Current Crisis-Events’ FlowAfter exactly two years of a genocidal war, the TPLF and the Federal Government signed a ceasefire agreement in Pretoria in November 2022. As part of the agreement, both parties agreed to establish an... 121
Reposted by @tomlavers.bsky.socialBiruk Terrefe @terrefebiruk.bsky.social · 02/03/2025The impacts of #USAID cuts in #Ethiopia: - 85% (!) of CSOs have paused operations - Food assistance for 1 million people & clean water supply to IDPs in Tigray suspended - Termination of 5,000 workers focused on HIV & malaria prevention, vaccinations etc. www.thereporterethiopia.com/44011/thereporterethiopia.comUSAID Funding Freeze Leave Over 85pct Of Ethiopian Nonprofits CrippledGov’t suspends work permits for foreign NGO staff 13623
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025If that piques your interest, download a free copy, with contributions from Fana Gebresenbet Biruk Terrefe Emanuele Fantini Luca Puddu & Edegilign Hailu fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/... 020
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Delays and inefficiency meant that many infrastructure projects failed to deliver promised benefits. Moreover, the political crisis of the past decade and the civil war since 2020 have left Abiy Ahmed’s government battling political and debt crisis to finally complete the GERD 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Related problems affect distribution, with the result that industrial and domestic users lack reliable connections, while the majority of the population lack any electricity connection. Indeed, grid expansion and connections are likely to lag behind generation for many years 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025This reflects a general process since the mid-2000s whereby the political leadership pressed for ever larger dams and electricity generation capacity in line with growing developmental ambitions and industrial plans, but in doing so bypassed technical input into decision making 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025But there is insufficient water in the annual flow of the Blue Nile to run all the GERD's turbines at full power for more than about one-third of the time. The result is a rather expensive means of generating electricity 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/20252. the political nature of Ethiopia's dam planning that largely bypassed technical input. Repeated Ethiopian dams (GG3, Beles, Koysha) have maximised installed capacity at the insistence of political leaders. The GERD is only the largest and most high profile example 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/20251. the adversarial hydropolitics of the Nile. Egypt has repeatedly sought to block upstream dam development. The Ethiopian hope was that one massive dam capturing as much water as possible would put an end to endless negotiations with downstream riparians 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025The GERD combines all the water storage and electricity generation capacity of a three-dam cascade into one massive dam located close to the Sudanese border, at the last possible location within Ethiopia. Why? Two main reasons 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025When Egypt and Sudan withdrew, Ethiopia was in a position to act unilaterally and began to plan a Nile dam. Yet when the GERD was announced in 2011 it was a very different dam from those proposed by the US study in 1964 or the NBI studies more recently 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Yet plans for a joint project unraveled over negotiation of the Cooperative Framework Agreement's clause 14b in 2009. While the upstream countries demanded ‘equitable utilisation’ of the Nile waters, Egypt and Sudan insisted on securing their ‘historic rights’ 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025The NBI updated old US studies of the Nile Basin and proposed a three-dam cascade aimed at 'benefit sharing': dams in Ethiopia would provide water regulation downstream in Egypt and Sudan, eliminate flooding in Sudan and provide cheap electricity to all three countries 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025By 2011, Ethiopia had the political cohesion, financial and technical capacity required to launch a Blue Nile dam. But prior to this Ethiopia had pursued a cooperative strategy with Egypt and Sudan through the World Bank sponsored Nile Basin Initiative 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Third, the EPRDF focused on internal political cohesion as the basis of a foreign policy focused on securing close ties with global powers and an upstream coalition pushing for change on the Nile 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Second, C5 shows how the Gibe-Omo cascade enabled close ties to develop between politicians and Salini. While Salini had been working in Ethiopia for years, it was through construction of GG1 and its proposal of GG2 that it came to be the go-to contractor for the EPRDF's dams 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025First, the government oversaw a period of rapid economic growth from 2003 onwards, resulting in growing government revenues for investment in ever larger infrastructure projects 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025C3/4 shows that the main early focus of the EPRDF dams boom was the Gibe-Omo basin in southern Ethiopia. During the construction of three hydropower projects the government addressed many of the constraints on past Ethiopian regimes' dam building ambitions 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025C3 argues that the EPRDF sought to consolidate power through state-led development. Infrastructure development and especially state investment in hydropower was key to this strategy, providing low-cost electricity to industry, households and for export 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025C2 shows how in 20C Ethiopia's dependence on external powers and Egyptian influence prevented Ethiopian Nile dams. But Haile Selassie did get support for a major US Blue Nile study, identifying many possible projects, including the eventual GERD site (albeit a v.different design) 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025The book argues that the EPRDF's dam building, of which the GERD is the largest and most controversial project, is symbolic of the successes and limitations of its attempts to build a ‘developmental state’ and to transform the Ethiopian economy and society. Detailed thread below 100
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025New open access (free!) book on the politics of Ethiopian dam building, 'Dams, Power and the Politics of Ethiopia's Renaissance', out now global.oup.com/academic/pro... @terrefebiruk.bsky.social @globaldevinst.bsky.social @oupacademic.bsky.social 135
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Download a copy here: cambridge.org/core/service...cambridge.org 000
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Finally chapter 11 reflects on the implications of Ethiopia’s ‘developmental state’—often held up as a model for other for other countries—for late-late development 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Elite fragmentation, mass unrest and the politicisation of ethnicity ultimately paved the way to the outbreak of war in 2020 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Third, in the context of a federal system that had politicised ethnicity, both protest movements and elite divisions formed along ethnic lines. While many of the root causes were based on class and generational divisions, the political response was ethnic 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Second, the Oromo and Amhara branches of the EPRDF saw the protests as an opportunity to change the balance of power in the EPRDF and encouraged protestors 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025First, the generational divide in access to land and employment, with the result that a generation of young adults with rising education levels were bypassed by the ‘developmental state’. These young adults were the driving force of the protests 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Chapter 10 charts the protests that brought about the collapse of the EPRDF’s ‘developmental state’ and argues that this was the result of three main factors: 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025The expansion of Addis Ababa, in particular, intersected with ethnic divisions, as Oromo populations living in the urban periphery were displaced by the multi-ethnic city. This sparked the Oromo protests and highlighted emerging divisions within the EPRDF 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Chapter 7 focuses on urban expansion in Adama and Addis Ababa and the exploitative process of expropriation to make way for new industrial parks, roads, railways and housing 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025This distributive crisis reflected a generational divide in access to land and employment. However, this was exacerbated by expropriation and displacement to make way for the infrastructural projects of the ‘developmental state’ 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025Despite some successes in attracting lead firms, poor planning delayed several parks and by this point the distributive problems had reached a crisis point: widespread unemployment and underemployment, particularly for young adults 110
tomlavers.bsky.social @tomlavers.bsky.social · 21/02/2025A series of new state-constructed industrial parks sought to attract established global producers to relocate parts of their production to Ethiopia thereby accelerating manufacturing exports and job creation 110
